A Twist of Fates
by LilyBelleMichele188
Summary: What should have ended as a simple agent evac assignment lands Ex IMF Agents Brandt and Meyer in the middle of ghost protocol where every action is unsanctioned and the certainty of success is smaller than their chances of survival.
1. Chapter 1

(So I tried something new again. This is a fanfic based off of Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. The only mission impossible movie I've seen so please try to go easy on me about details I may have missed. I tried to follow the story while at the same time adding in an effective splash with my OC so I hope you enjoy it. Here is part one.)

It didn't take long for the car to arrive though to Ethan those minutes had felt like hours.

He wasted no time in climbing aboard the long sleek vehicle not even bothering to put on his seatbelt before nodding to the driver to take off.

"Mr. Secretary," Ethan addressed the slightly older man sitting across from him. "I wasn't aware you were in Russia." He murmured softly, glancing brieflythe young woman sitting to the right the Secretary next to a younger man closer to Ethan's age.

"I'm not. Not since the bomb blew up the Kremlin." The Secretary's response held little humor in it. "Yesterday I flew in to accept the order of friendship from the Russian Prime Minister. Now...I'm headed back to Washington to hand the President my resignation."

Ethan started when a slight callused hand suddenly grazed a flesh wound he hadn't realized he had sustained until the sharp prickling pain started at the sudden touch.

"Sorry," The woman sitting across from him softly apologized before withdrawing her hand. "I just wanted to make sure there weren't any infections starting in."

She smoothly transitioned back into her seat between the Secretary and the younger man dropping her gaze as her companion went through some files on a laptop eyeing Ethan with an unreadable expression on his face.

The Secretary nodded at the couple. "My Chief Analyst William Brandt..and Helene Meyer, Medical Technician." He introduced. "I brought her along in case you needed some attention, but...it looks like the Russians already took good care of you." He noted.

Ethan rolled his eyes at this while Helene merely dropped her gaze from the agent. "You could say that." His gaze met Brandt's and the Analyst immediately stuck out his hand for Ethan to shake.

Ethan didn't take it. "A pen?" He asked fumbling through his jacket. Brandt looked taken aback. "Pardon?"

"A pen!" Ethan spoke a little louder this time. Helene reached over and stuck her hand into Brandt's front jacket pocket. "Here." She pulled out a half used ballpoint pen and shot the analyst a look before handing it to Ethan.

Brandt met her gaze and sighed lightly.

"Chief Analyst you say?" Ethan immediately started to scribble something into the palm of his hand.

Brandt blinked at him. "Sorry?"

"European male..in his fifties, about six foot 180 pounds. Blue eyes." Ethan held up his hand for Brandt to see after finishing his little drawing. "Who is he?"

Helene leaned over to study the image. "It's a..crude drawing." Brandt mumbled, squinting a bit as if he were having trouble seeing. "But judging by your description that could be Kurt Hendricks. 190 IQ. Served in the Swedish Special Forces. Professor of Physics at Stockholm University. Specialist in Nuclear endgame theory. He was asked to resign because...well cause he's crazy." Brandt shrugged gauging Ethan's reaction as Helene straightened back into her spot.

"Cobalt." Ethan started. "You have to alert the Kremlin that one of their strategists has a nuclear launch device and one of his operatives has the code to activate it." He directed his statement at the Secretary.

"And what makes you say that?" asked Brandt. Helene cast an uneasy look towards the Secretary saying nothing as Ethan responded.

"I saw him. Leaving the executive armory, bag in hand. He set off that explosion to cover his tracks. It could be weeks before the Russians know it's missing unless we tell them."

"They won't listen to us." The Secretary cut him off. "As far as the Russians are concerned, we just blew up the Kremlin. Tension between the United States and Russia hasn't been this high since the Cuban missile crisis and the blame right or wrong, points to the IMF." He paused.

"The President, has initiated Ghost Protocol. The entire IMF has been disavowed with no standing exceptions. I've been ordered to take you back to Washington, where the DOD will label you as a rogue extremist and hang the Kremlin bombiing on you and your team. Unless..." Here the Secretary trailed off again and glanced towards where Brandt and Meyer were sitting.

"...Unless you were to escape somewhere between here and the airport, having assaulted, Mr. Brandt, Ms. Meyer and I in the process-."

"Wait what?" Helene cut him off, worried by what she just heard. The Secretary ignored her. "You would then illegally scrounge whatever material you could from a back up supply cache I have overlooked. The same cache where your team is waiting for further orders." He stared at Ethan who looked a bit stunned by what he had just heard.

He glanced briefly at Helene who did not look afraid, but she clearly felt as uncomfortable as Ethan and Brandt did about the Secretary's new plan.

"Um Sir, I think you should-." Brandt started cut in, but the Secretary motioned for him to stop with a raise of his hand.

"You will then disappear and this conversation having never taken place, your intentions will be unclear. But if anyone of your team is caught or killed, they will branded a terrorist out to incite global nuclear war." Ethan swallowed as the Secretary opened a briefcase and took out a flashdrive which he offered to the former Senior Agent.

"Your mission...should you choose to accept it." He said calmly as he had done so many times before when assigning a new mission to his favorite agent.

Ethan silently took the USB still at unease about the whole situation. Helene bit her lip as she tried to analyze his expression, but the darkness of the vehicle they were in made it difficult for her to make out his facial features.

The Secretary turned grim as the driver took them around a sharp turn to the right. "You're my best man, Ethan and I'm sorry it's come to this especially after all the sacrifices you made." He said sincerely. "If we don't meet again, I want you to know I've always considered you-."

"Look out!" The driver suddenly floored the gas pedal, cutting the Secretary off as sudden gunfire sent the little group hurtling towards the floor of the car.

Brandt tried to protect the Secretary, but a bullet went through the side of his head killing him instantly. Helene started to check him for a pulse anyway, but Brandt pulled her back down on the floor and used his own body to shield her as the gunfire continued.

When the car started to lurch, Ethan chanced a look back up at the driver. "No!" He blanched when he saw the blood and bits of brain matter splattering the front windshield.

Ethan attempted to crawl over the back seats into the front, but the car suddenly went into free fall, coming to rest only when it hit the river headlights first throwing everyone forward.

Brandt and Meyer quickly untangled themselves from each other and followed Ethan as he managed to break open a window swimming frantically for the air pocket under the car while the gunfire continued.

Ethan resurfaced first. "Is everyone okay?" He asked directing his question at Brandt who surfaced seconds before Helene did.

"Yeah!" Brandt answered while Helene coughed and struggled to keep her head above the water next to him.

"My foot's stuck on something." She groaned, her head almost bobbing back underwater as if something was pulling her by the leg. Brandt looked down and saw that a seatbelt had become dislodged from the car. It was caught around Helene's right ankle and was attempting to drag her down to the bottom of the river along with the remains of the late Secretary's privately owned vehicle.

Without hesitation Ethan dove into the river and pulled a pocket knife from his pocket with which he cut the woman free from the long strip of leather. Brandt tried his best to keep Helene from submerging, but the gunfire was not stopping and as the bullets strayed closer and closer to their location, Helene became more frantic.

"Okay! You're good!" Ethan finally resurfaced as Helene practically bobbed up from the water nearly hitting her head on the underside of Brandt's chin. "Thanks!" She gasped as Ethan turned to open one of the spare compartments in the upturned car.

"You two wait here!" He ordered grabbing a flare that had fallen out before submerging himself back into the river.

Helene and Brandt glanced at each other as the water splashed them in the face. "Wait! Where are you going?" Helene asked. She recieved no answer in return.


	2. Chapter 2

(Chapter 2. I own nothing but Helene)

...

"That was too close!" Brandt gasped as he, Helene and Ethan finally managed to scramble to shore from the river. They ran to a nearby train station where it was dead quiet save for the faint echoing of the gunfire they left behind.

Helene gasped when she tripped over the gravel in her bare feet almost hitting her head on a pole lining a set of tracks. "That was insane!" She corrected gasping as the fatique started to make her legs cramp.

"Why would that work anyway?" She turned towards Ethan who met her gaze sharply. "Why would what work?" He asked with a bit of an edge to his voice.

Helene gritted her teeth. "The flare on the body! Why did that work? They must have known there was more than one person in the car!-"

"It did work!" Ethan cut her off, slowing the pace suddenly as they rounded a corner together. Brandt narrowed his eyes a bit at him. "Well yeah, but I think what she means is-!"

"This way!" Ethan interrupted again motioning with his arm when Brandt started to go the wrong way. Helene sighed as he quickly turned around and scrambled to follow Ethan.

"What she means is, how did you know that would draw their fire?" Brandt finished. Ethan shook his head. "I didn't. I played a hunch." He explained scanning a line of boxcars before running again.

Helene struggled to follow. "So..a hunch." Brandt tried to think this through like he always did as an Analyst. "Three people being shot at in the water and all of a sudden one of them decides to light a fuse and start swimming around?" He asked.

Ethan shrugged. "More or less. These guys aren't Rhodes Scholars you know I could tell by how scattered their aim was that they were just shooting at whatever appeared to move. I just gave them a target so we could make our escape." He stopped at another row of boxcars, but they weren't at the right platform yet.

Brandt exchanged glances with Helene as they looked around trying to spot the train where the overlooked safe house was located. "It's really happening, isn't it?" Helene asked as if it was all sinking in for her for the first time tonight.

Ethan nodded his head. "Yeah." He started to look sympathetic for her when a distant train whistle caught his attention.

"You hear that?" He asked looking at Brandt, but directing his question at both of them. Brandt nodded his head first. "Yeah! That's our ride out of here! Come on!" He grabbed Helene by the wrist and pulled her in the direction of the whistle.

"Okay! It's a green car! Number 47!"

Brandt let go of Helene and hopped up onto a platform as Ethan followed suit. "Brandt!" Helene called up to her partner before motioning down at her bare stockinged feet.

Brandt groaned before turning to pull her up.

"I see green!" Ethan called, already hurrying over the platform as Helene scrambled to get over the railing.

"Number 47!" Brandt repeated following Ethan at a brisk pace. Helene bit her lip. "I don't see it." She muttered ignoring the discomfort on the bottom of her feet.

Brandt gave her a little push. "Come on! Let's go go go!" He urged her as Ethan doubled back from the train he was following.

"I don't-!" Ethan started to speak then he stopped himself when a green car passed by. "Number 47!" Helene pointed without pausing.

"Oh s***!" Brandt cursed before pivoting around on his heels again. Helene ran past him to get alongside Ethan.

"Whoa Pole!" Brandt warned barely giving Ethan and Helene enough time to avoid face planting into the metal.

He turned to motion toward a panel on the side of the car. "This is it! The Manifest!" He told Ethan who immediately turned around to activiate the Identification process.

"Press enter." A calm mechanical female voice spoke after Ethan finished punching in his code. Ethan groaned and whipped around to enter his information.

"Pole!" Brandt shouted again and Ethan dodged to the side. Helene tapped him on the arm before motioning to a device that retracted from the car. "Retinal Scan!" She yelled over the noise of the train motioning from her eyes to his.

Ethan understand immediately and tried to jump up at the machine. "Retinal Scan required." The voice spoke again.

"I noticed!" Ethan barked in frustration before jumping onto a narrow foothold on the side of the car.

"Agent confirmed." The machine responded and a door on the side of the car slid open. Brandt jumped in then pulled Helene up after him reaching for Ethan in the blink of an eye.

The door slid shut after Ethan managed to get in and the group collapsed in a heap after that trying to catch their breath when the lights came on. Helene flinched when someone pressed a gun to the side of her head.

"Ethan!?...Jeez! I thought you were dead!" A man exclaimed lowering his gun which he had pointed at Ethan's head. The woman who was holding Helene at gun point did the same.

"We are." Brandt muttered sarcastically as he attempted to get back on his feet. Helene grimaced as her blisters flared up the minute she tried to stand.

"Who's this?" The woman asked looking from Helene to Brandt in a distrustful manner. Ethan merely shrugged.

"Agent Dunn and Carter." He motioned to his two teammates who still had their guns in their hands. "William Brandt, Analyst and Helene Meyer, Med Tech." He introduced them hastily.

"Analyst." Carter narrowed her eyes at the newcomers. "Med Tech?" She looked back at Helene who merely shrugged at her in response. Brandt tried to help Helene up while Ethan pulled a flat screen down from one of the panels built into the wall.

"No don't!" Helene pushed Brandt away when he tried to jerk her to her feet. Brandt stared at her concerned while relinquishing his grip. "What's wrong?"

Helene shook her head. "Nothing. I just need a first aid kit." She turned to Carter and the agent nodded before tucking her revolver away into her belt.

"We have one in the back." She confirmed before heading towards a room in the back of the compartment. Helene nodded at her gratefully. "Thanks Carter."

"It's Jane." The woman corrected and smiled before leaving the main area. Helene smiled back.

"Oh geez! Why didn't you say anything while we were running?" Brandt asked, grimacing when he saw all the cuts and popped blisters covering the bottoms of his partner's feet.

Helene just shrugged at him. "Cause we were running?" She said, causing Dunn to snort from his corner of the compartment.

"Agent Confirmed." The mechanical voice spoke again as Ethan inserted the flash drive the Secretary had given him. Jane returned a minute later carrying the first aid kit.

"Here. You'll probably want to change into some drier clothes afterwards." Jane motioned at Helene and Brandt's water soaked garments after setting the kit down on the floor.

Brandt looked down at himself. "Yeah probably." He muttered while clenching his teeth to keep them from chattering. The car wasn't exactly warm and now that the adrenaline was finally starting to wear off the coldness was getting harder to ignore.

"I'll go find something in my bag you can borrow." Jane nodded to Helene before moving her gaze back to Brandt. "And maybe Ethan has something he wouldn't mind sharing." She smirked before turning to head towards the bunks in the far side of the room.

Brandt grinned back.

"How will the world finally end?" A female voice spoke from the monitor Ethan pulled up as a Russian man spoke in his native language to a large group of rather importantly dressed people.

Helene frowned as she listened to the recording, tearing her ruined stockings away so she could work on her wounds.

Brandt knelt to help her. "Will don't. They'll see." Helene whispered so that no one would catch what she was saying. Brandt looked up to meet her eyes.

"I don't care." He murmured and looked down to pull away the remains of her right stocking. Helene sighed and tore away her other stocking.

"It is my job to predict the unthinkable. To treat the deaths of billions as a game." The Translator continued speaking. Dunn frowned when he heard that and stuck the end of his laser pen into his mouth.

"Ow!" Helene hissed and bit her lip before dabbing at her wounds again with a disinfectant gauze. Brandt frowned, but kept his mouth shut until Jane returned to the room.

"After twenty years of this, I was numb. Until a new question crossed my mind. What happens after the end of the world?...Every two or three million years..."

"Here, change into these. They'll be a lot warmer than what you have for now." Jane whispered setting a stack of clothes in Brandt's arms before heading over to sit next to Helene.

"Thanks." Brandt murmured so he wouldn't bother Ethan who was still watching the video footage.

"Don't mention it." Jane shrugged and set another stack of clothes down on the floor. "I brought you some sweatpants and a t-shirt. They might be a little big, but they'll do until your clothes dry." She patted the stack before pushing it closer to where Helene was.

"Thank you." Helene nodded gratefully at the Agent before turning to grab a bandage from the first aid kit.

"...some natural catastrophe devastates all life on earth...but somehow life goes on." The Russian man continued causing Brandt to sigh disturbed even though he'd already heard it all before.

"And what little remains is made stronger. Put simply world destruction is an unpleasant but necessary part of evolution." Helene grimaced as she finished wrapping up her feet.

She was about to try to stand up, when a whooshing sound made her jump and she fell back on her bottom creating a loud thumping noise that drew Agent Dunn's attention briefly.

"Sorry." Brandt murmured and leaned away from a panel he had accidentally put his elbow on opening a weapon vault. Jane sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What happens next then, I wondered when mankind faces the next end of the world?" The footage continued to roll.

"I looked to Hiroshima, Nagasaki...thriving cities rebuilt from the ashes. Monuments to the unimaginable, dedicated to the concept of peace. It occured to me here that nuclear war might have a place in the natural order, but only if it could be controlled...Only if it touched every living soul equally."

Ethan stopped the video. Helene turned to exchange glances with Brandt as the image of the Russian stayed frozen on the screen. His gaze unsettlingly was pointed at them.

"IMF now believes that this man, Kurt Hendricks is the nuclear extremist code name Cobalt." Ethan explained while motioning back at the screen.

"Today he was seen leaving the Kremlin, with what is likely a nuclear launch device...Two days ago Sabine Moreau killed one of our agents in Budapest and relieved him of Russian nuclear launch codes." He directed this last statement at Brandt and Helene.

"Intel indicates she will check into the Burj Hotel in Dubai in 36 hours. Marius Wistrom is a known operative of Cobalt. Wistrom is currently on en route to Dubai. For the launch device to work, Cobalt needs the activation codes. He's sending Wistrom to buy them from Moreau."

Here Ethan paused before continuing and he faced Dunn and Jane as he spoke. "The Secretary..is dead."

Jane looked shocked. Dunn dropped the pen he had been fiddling with in his hands.

Brandt shook his head in despair while Helene glared holes into the floor.

"The President has invoked Ghost Protocol. We're shut down. No satellite, safe house, support or extraction. The five of us and the contents of this car are all that remain of the IMF and as of this moment any action is unsanctioned so if you want out, speak now." Ethan finished and glanced back at the newcomers.

Brandt started to open his mouth. "Uh.." He began then stopped when he thought better of what he was going to say.

Helene averted her gaze from Ethan. "If he stays, I stay." She muttered, meaning Brandt obviously though she wasn't looking at him when she spoke.

Ethan looked satisfied. "Our mission is Hendricks. We're all that stands between him and his goal. Nothing can be left to chance. Everyone connected with this man is considered an asset with valuable information about our target. No one can know we're still online. We lose Hendricks now. We lose him forever." He finished and Jane raised her chin.

"So what's the play?" She asked.

"Wistrom will take delivery from Moreau in 36 hours." Ethan told her. "Now we cannot let the launch codes leave the hotel, but we need Wistrom to lead us to Hendricks."

"And he'll only do that if he has the codes." Brandt muttered tauntingly in a bitterly sarcastic way. Helene shot him a look.

"Or if he thinks he has them." Ethan corrected. "Our objective is to intercept the sale, replace the authentic codes with counterfeits and follow Wistrom to Hendricks." He explained.

Helene nodded her head. "Well that sounds simple enough." She agreed, while eyeing Jane, Brandt and Dunn with the corner of her eye.

"Exactly!" Dunn piped up from the other side of the room. "We snatch the codes, gin up some fakes. Jane you double Moreau and sell the codes to Wistrom and Bob's your uncle." He shrugged.

Helene smiled slightly at him. "And how do you propose we just snatch the codes from Moreau?" Brandt asked still doubtful, earning a glare from Jane.

"We take her out." She said simply, a slight edge to her voice though Brandt didn't really seem to hear it.

"Yeah, we take her out! But...you know, discreetly." Dunn chimed in. Brandt raised an eyebrow. "Discreetly?"

"Yeah." Dunn said in an obvious tone.

Helene frowned when she noticed the sudden murderous look in Jane's expression. She was obviously very eager to end this Moreau, but there was also a sense of pain in her eyes. A sense of loss that made the Medic wonder about its source.

"Benji we can't take her out!" Ethan barked, obviously frustrated that his teammates had missed his earlier point. Dunn immediately ducked his head.

"Oh right! She's an asset. Right! Sorry. Nothing left to chance we -. " He stopped when he noticed Jane glaring at him.

"He said- I'm spit balling here! It's not all going to be gold!" He protested.

"We don't touch Wistrom." Ethan added. Benji nodded his head. "All right." He conceded. Jane still looked angry.

"Ethan-."

"Or Moreau!" Ethan cut her off though his tone wasn't unkind. It was understanding and that piqued Helene's curiousity even more.

"She'll answer for Hanaway...but it has to be when I say. After we hit Hendricks." Ethan continued and Jane dropped her gaze.

"Hanaway?" Helene murmured out loud without thinking. She thought back to Ethan's speech earlier after the video ran out and gazed at the back of Jane's head.

_Moreau killed an Agent Hanaway for the codes. Could it be that he and Jane were..._

Jane cringed when she heard his name being spoken, but said nothing before turning to go back into the spare room.

Ethan sighed as the door slammed rattlingly loud after her. "Everyone get ready!" He nodded towards the rest of the group. "And get some rest."

Dunn sighed and got up to go check something on the computer. Brandt nodded and nudged Helene in the arm.

"You got it Team Leader." He picked up the clothes Jane had left him and headed for the bathroom on the other side of the compartment. Ethan sighed and nodded at the door Jane had gone through a minute before shaking off the comment as if he were waking up from a bad dream.

"You can change in there." He spoke to Helene and she nodded at him gratefully before reaching for the dry clothes and the first aid kit.

"Thank you." She murmured and walked past Benji to get to the room. "You don't think...she'll mind if I go in do you?" She directed her question at Benji who looked up to make eye contact with her when he heard her question.

"Better you than me, Love." He grinned cheekily before looking back down at data he had on his laptop. Helene gave him a nervous smile.

"Thanks Dunn." She reached for the handle of the door and quietly pulled open the heavy metal door. "It's Benji." Benji corrected, but the only reply he got was the slamming of the door.

...


	3. Chapter 3

(Chapter 3. Sorry it's a bit short. Hope you like it. I own nothing but Helene)

...

"You look tired." Jane observed, raising an eyebrow the minute she saw Helene finally make her way out of the passport security line at the Dubai International airport.

Brandt turned when he heard Jane address her, but Helene did not look back at him.

"There was a baby crying in my cabin." She shrugged, knowing her excuse probably wouldn't fool anyone. Still she was grateful that no one could see exactly how tired she was through the dark lenses of her sunglasses.

She hadn't slept at all on the airplane nor had she managed to catch more than a few minutes of shut eye in the train car last night.

"That's never bothered you before." Brandt smirked slightly reaching to adjust his sunglasses just as a sleek white jeep pulled up in front of the airport.

Helene started to shoot Brandt a look when Benji suddenly stuck his head out from the front seat of the car.

"All aboard!" He chirped, patting the side of the car as if it were a well bred horse. Ethan leaned over from the driver's side. "What he said."

Jane and Brandt exchanged glances with each other before picking up their bags and making their way towards the back of the car. Helene followed, but a bit more sluggishly.

"All right there, sleepyhead?" Benji teased still smiling brightly as the younger woman scowled slightly from behind her shades.

"Shut it." She nearly growled, surprising Benji as she chucked her bag into the back of the jeep almost hitting the back of Benji's headrest. Ethan chuckled as Jane stared curiously at her.

"Nice Kitty." Brandt joked, patting Helene on the shoulder before getting into the back seat. Helene followed.

"Benji out." Jane jabbed her thumb behind her shoulder as she walked around to the front seat of the jeep. Benji looked stunned.

"What? Why?" He asked, clearly not wanting to give up his seat despite the way Jane was looking at him. Brandt and Helene exchanged glances as Jane lowered herself over Benji's face.

"Because I'm a lady and I said so." She said in a soft innocent tone that matched her smile. Benji tried to look to Ethan for help, but he just smiled and shrugged clearly amused by their little interaction.

Sighing, Benji reluctantly vacated his seat grumbling something no one could understand before making his way into the back across from Brandt.

"Thank you Benji." Jane smiled at Benji through the rearview mirror before closing the door and buckling her seatbelt. Benji snorted at her before opening up his laptop on his lap.

At that moment Ethan gunned the engine and floored the gas pedal so suddenly that Benji nearly tipped over into Brandt's lap laptop and all. Helene meanwhile barely managed to avoid slamming herself face first on the floor next to him.

"You all right?" Ethan asked, looking back at everyone through the rearview mirror with a smile on his face.

Benji waved signalling that he was fine while Helene grimaced at the stinging in her feet caused by the friction. She glared at Ethan.

"You trying to kill somebody?" She asked in a slightly annoyed tone, causing Jane to snicker slightly from next to the driver.

Ethan merely shrugged and continued to speed down the nearly deserted desert road as Brandt gazed at her slightly in concern.

Helene shook her head at him.

"So, how long have you two been knowing each other?" Benji asked suddenly pointing from Brandt to Helene as Ethan swerved around a corner.

Brandt finally averted his gaze. "For a good several years now...we trained together." He muttered earning a sharp glance from Helene.

"Really?" Benji was intrigued. He took his sunglasses off to smile at them. "But I thought she was a medic." Jane looked at Helene through the rearview mirror causing the other woman to drop her gaze uncomfortably to her lap.

"She is...She switched to the medical field about two years ago." Brandt turned to glance at Helene as he continued, his right hand going up to adjust his sunglasses.

Helene bit her lip.

"I don't want to talk about this." She nearly snapped, though she was barely audible over the roaring of the car engine.

Realizing that she was annoyed, Benji immediately went back to whatever he was doing on his computer and Jane went back to looking out the window.

"So...even if we can double Wistrom and Moreau at the Burj Khalifa, how do we keep them in separate rooms while having them think that they're in the same room?" Brandt asked after a long awkward minute causing Ethan to look away from the road briefly.

"We give the hotel a facelift. Wistrom will think he's arriving at Moreau's suite, but really he'll be walking into our decoy room." He explained as Jane turned from the window.

"Where I'll be doubling Moreau." She continuing smiling a smile that had danger written all over it.

"Downstairs Benji will double Wistrom." Ethan continued. "Masks!" Benji put in excitedly and Helene gave him a strange look.

"And meet with Moreau where I'll get diamonds off Jane and transfer payment to Benji to give to the real Moreau." Ethan finished. Brandt nodded his head.

"And uh...what will Meyer and I be doing?" He asked glancing at Helene briefly before returning his attention to Ethan.

"You?" Benji spoke up suddenly with his sunglasses dangling out of his mouth. "You're the helper, and back up support." He winked at Helene causing her to snort at his cheesy sense of humor.

"Helper. That's great." Brandt said meekly, grinning before looking down at Helene again. This time she looked up to meet his gaze and smiled briefly before dropping her eyes again.

"Okay so to the extent that I understand what you're talking about here...the Burj Khalifa. It's the tallest building in the world and you want to alter it's infrastructure with the hope of convincing two people that they've had a meeting which actually really never happened. Right?" Brandt quickly recounted everything he had just been told and looked up at Ethan as if seeking confirmation.

Ethan grinned at him. "Pretty much." He started to ease off the accelerator a little.

"Uh!" Jane suddenly pointed out the front windshield and Ethan barely slammed the brakes in time to avoid a collision.

Helene gasped as the force knocked her sharply backward, but Brandt reached out and braced her before she could hit her head on the window.

Benji started to reach forward at the same time when his laptop started to slide off his lap. "Ah!" He winced when his head slammed discomfortably into Jane's seat beside him interrupting his attempt to protect his computer gear.

Ethan glanced back briefly then chuckled at everyone's expressions as he stared out the front window. "Camels." He grinned.

...


	4. Chapter 4

(Chapter 4. Hope it's not too bad so far. Enjoy! I own nothing but Helene)

...

"ETA on dry cleaning." Ethan spoke into the COMM as he walked across the room Benji was setting up in for thier little operation.

Jane was currently downstairs bringing up their uniforms in the guise of a housekeeping personnel while Brandt and Helene go put everyone's bags away in the back bedroom.

"On my way up." Jane responded through her communication device as Brandt walked back into the main area.

"Okay thirty four minutes to door knock." He announced setting a timer on his phone before setting it behind Benji's computer.

Helene walked out a few minutes later and walked around Ethan to check on the mask making machine.

"Wow...okay this is a slight wrinkle, but it's nothing to worry about. We're just going to have to go into the server room from the outside." Benji said suddenly looking up from his laptop with a slightly worried expression on his face that did not reassure anyone in the slightest.

"What?" Ethan asked coming around to look at the computer as Benji attempted to explain.

"Well the firewalls on this building's server are military grade. I mean this would be a cinch if I could call Youssef back at headquarters, but Youssef doesn't exist anymore and neither do we."

"Well couldn't you hack it?" Helene asked not moving from the mask machine as Brandt walked over from the window to join the two men.

"Well I could, but it would take too long." Benji responded. Ethan bit his lip. "Then hardwire in." He retorted.

"And there's four layers of next gen security between us and the server room. There's no way we can get to it from inside." Benji responded firmly.

Brandt's face fell. "If we can't get to the server, we don't control the elevators, we don't control the security cameras. This operation's over before it even begins." He said defeated as he looked in Helene's direction.

Helene started to say something to him when Benji beat her to it. "I'm telling you! We can get to it from outside!" He cut in directing his statement at Brandt.

"We?" Ethan asked.

Benji immediately caught his drift. "I-I'm on the computer." He stuttered pointing at the keyboard as he talked.

Brandt cringed a little when Ethan turned to look at him. "I'm just the uh..helper." He shrugged motioning to Benji.

Helene shook her head and swallowed hard when Ethan turned his gaze on her. "Uh...I don't do heights." She shuddered looking away from the window back to the masks as Ethan sighed.

"What floor is it on?" He asked clearly dreading his new task as Benji typed rapidly on his computer.

"Uh..a hundred and thirty." Benji responded unnervingly calm for his answer.

Ethan felt the blood drain from his face. " A hundred and thirty?" He asked, flabbergasted.

"That's nuts." Helene agreed looking horrified at the prospects.

"Vent ducts?" Ethan asked, looking up at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Pressure sensitive." Benji answered.

"Not enough time." Brandt put in.

"What about the elevator shaft?" Ethan tried.

"Infrared sensors." Benji replied.

"Not enough time." Brandt said again this time a bit tauntingly.

Ethan walked to the window in the middle of the room and gazed out around the building. "How am I supposed to do this?" He asked to no one in particular as Benji reached for a briefcase he had under the coffee table.

He pulled a pair of high tech gloves from inside it and threw one at the window by Ethan's head. It stuck to the glass emitting a high pitched humming sound.

"Here! Catch!" Benji called before chucking the other one at Ethan's other side. This time Ethan managed to turn swiftly on his heel and catch the other glove before it could hit the window pane.

"Incredible." He mumured impressed by what he was holding. Benji merely shrugged. "They came out with those like last month. You could use them to scale the wall and get into the server room." He grinned, then dropped it a second later.

Helene looked shocked. "You want him to climb to the hundred and thirtieth floor using a pair of sticky gloves?!" She asked feeling her stomach turn at the idea.

"Well better Ethan than you." Brandt retorted grinning as he walked over to a bag Ethan had set aside earlier on the couch.

Helene could not argue this point. "You're right..." She went back to inspecting the mask machine still feeling uneasy as Brandt tossed a couple of laser cutters at Benji.

For a minute it was quiet as Benji and Ethan got to work to cutting the glass away from the window frame. Brandt grabbed some suction cups from the bag and brought them over just as they finished cutting out the window.

"Oh! That's high!" Benji gasped as he and Brandt stood on either side of the window and carefully lifted the glass before carrying it to the other side of the room.

Helene frowned as a warm breeze blew in through the exposed window frame. "You sure about this, Benji?" She asked as machines whirred behind her.

Benji shrugged. "Absolutely!" He grinned at her then turned to help Ethan with his gloves. "Okay now remember it's a rolling off motion that disengages the bond. When the meter is blue, that's full adhesion. Easy way to remember, blue is glue." Benji explained.

"And when it's red?" Ethan asked as the gloves flickered briefly.

"Dead." Benji stated plain and square. Helene and Brandt both looked up at that and exchanged apprehensive glances with each other.

"Are the Masks coming along?" Brandt asked making his way across the room to where Helene stood keeping her back to the opened window. Benji reached for a laser cutter.

"I think so." Helene smiled slightly as she watched the cutters cut very realistic designs into the face of the masks. "It looks pretty good from where I'm standing." She glanced back to see if Ethan or Benji was watching them, but both were too occupied with the task at hand to pay attention to them.

Brandt chuckled.

"How are your blisters?" He asked, suddenly changing his tone while at the same time making sure that no one could hear him over the mask machine.

Helene shrugged. "Still hurts like heck. I've had worse though. You know." She frowned suddenly and lowered her voice to match his volume.

"I think I know you better than anyone." Brandt retorted grinning slightly as if not noticing the look on Helene's face.

Helene clenched a fist.

"Do you think Seth is doing okay?" She asked almost in a whisper, avoiding Brandt's gaze as the machines whirred on.

Brandt frowned and started to reply.

"Okay Ethan! The hotel server room is eleven stories up and seven units over." Benji suddenly spoke over the noise of all the machinery motioning with his hand so that Ethan could follow.

Brandt and Helene turned from the mask machine trying to look inconspicuous as Ethan nodded his head.

"Comm check?" Benji picked up his speaker and spoke into the mouthpiece. Ethan put his hand to his ear.

"Yeah. I copy." He confirmed, making no move yet to go out through the window. "Okay.." Benji put the walkie talkie down and started motioning his arms, balling his hands up into fists in an encouraging gesture.

Still Ethan did not turn to face the window. Brandt stared at him apprehensively as Ethan stalled for time fiddling with his gloves while his mind raced at the task ahead.

"It's 26 minutes to door knock." Helene spoke walking over to pick up Brandt's phone causing Ethan snapped out of his daze. "Right." He turned and took a deep breath before stepping around out the window.

Slowly he set his right hand on the wall and the high humming sound started signalling that full adhesion had succesfully occured.

Helene released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and started pacing the narrow area between Benji's laptop and the couch as Ethan slowly disappeared out the window.

Brandt shook his head and looked up from the edge of the floor, careful not to slip as he watched Ethan slowly begin his ascent up the hotel wall.

After a minute though he walked back to where Helene was and reached to take his phone from her making her stop mid pace as Benji hurried back to his computer to await Ethan's progress.

"Twenty Five minutes to door knock." Brandt spoke into his comm after awhile. Ethan did not respond.

Helene turned and sat down on the couch trying to make herself calm down as the minutes ticked by. She could still hear Ethan clambering up the wall, but the sound was not reassuring to her in the slightest.

After awhile Brandt joined Benji at the computer and sighed as he studied the map Benji pulled up on the screen.

Time ticked by. Benji started to drum his fingers on the tops of his knees as the scratching sound of Ethan climbing the wall grew fainter in the distance.

After a minute Helene got up and walked towards the bathroom meaning to splash some cold water on her face to alleviate some of her anxiety when she spotted something odd out the window.

"What is that?" She murmured staring until Brandt got up to get a closer look at the strange brown cloud.

"Yeah what the h*** is that?" Ethan asked, his voice cutting out on his comm piece.

Benji got up to join Brandt and frowned when he noticed the funnel. "It's a sandstorm." He realized then bent to speak into his comm. "Don't worry it's a long way off Ethan. Shouldn't be a problem." He quickly reassured.

Helene groaned and ran into the bathroom, making Benji jump when she slammed the door.

"Is she okay?" Benji asked looking worriedly at Brandt. Brandt started to shrug when Jane walked into the room with a stack of dry cleaning in her arms.

"All right! I'm here!...Where's Ethan?" She asked upon noticing that someone was missing. Benji and shrugged and pointed out the window.

Jane felt her jaw drop. "You have got to be kidding me."

...


	5. Chapter 5

(Chapter 5. Enjoy! I own nothing but Helene)

...

"Helene, you okay in there? Benji said you gotta to go with him in a minute to remake the room numbers." Brandt knocked on the bathroom door after the medic failed to emerge within a normal standard of time.

"Gah!" Ethan suddenly cried out and Benji flinched when he heard a squelch on the glass. Jane whipped her head around from the computer.

"Ethan you all right?" She asked tapping into her earpiece as Helene suddenly appeared from the bathroom barely missing Brandt's face with the door.

"How far up is he?" She asked, trying to hide the trembling in her voice as she directed her question at Benji.

"I'm fine!" Ethan barked as Brandt followed Helene to the computer. "23 minutes to door knock." Brandt remarked as Benji shrugged his shoulders at Helene.

"Okay...I'm at server level." Ethan responded after a minute. Benji nodded and brought up the connection statuses on the computer.

"That's great!" Helene answered with relief. "Get yourself in and out in one piece Ethan! I don't know much longer I can take this." She gritted her teeth and plopped onto the couch next to Jane.

Brandt frowned and picked up his phone as Jane glanced at her worriedly. "Twenty two minutes to door knock." Brandt muttered as Ethan let out another yelp and skid on the building.

Helene turned to shoot him a look.

"The countdown...is not helping!" Ethan grunted as Jane turned to glare at Brandt annoyed. Brandt just shrugged. "I'm just saying."

Helene brought her fingernails to her lips and bit down on her index finger.

"Okay I'm in!" Ethan spoke into the comm again and Helene heard him panting as he walked across the room.

"Awesome! That's great Ethan! You're halfway home!" Benji leaned forward in his seat at the computer and Jane got up to get something from the bedroom. Brandt walked back to put his phone on the table.

"Located server..." Ethan muttered after a minute. "Please tell me we're on line." He pleaded.

Benji tested the connections. "Yes! All right we're live! I now have control over the elevators and the security cameras." He stated satsified as the webcam picked up feed from all over the hotel.

Helene bit down on her thumbnail.

"Time to redecorate!" Jane picked up a couple converters from a bag and tossed one to Helene and another to Benji.

"Right. Okay now you drive and look out for Wistrom and Moreau, you..." He motioned from Brandt to Helene. "Come with us to fix up the doors."

Helene stood albeit reluctantly from the couch. "You got this." Brandt murmured as he took Benji's place in front of the computer.

Helene grimaced slightly. "Thanks." She flipped the converter in her hand and stepped around the couch to follow Jane and Benji.

Brandt sighed as he stared at the readout in front of him. "Twenty minutes to door knock."

...

"D*** it!" Jane hissed as her converter back fired on her a little. Helene glanced up sharply from her work then dropped her gaze when Benji handed her a make shift card key slot.

"Brandt, how much time do we have left?" Helene tapped on her ear piece as Benji worked above her.

"Sixteen minutes to door knock. You guys need to wrap it up." Brandt answered almost immediately. Helene nodded and leaned forward to secure the card key slot onto her door.

"Hold on! Wait a minute!..." Brandt's voice climbed in alarm suddenly. He trailed off causing Helenen and Benji to take their attention away from their work. "What's wrong?" asked Benji trying not to be overheard by Jane.

Jane frowned and tapped her earpiece. "Brandt?"

"It's Moreau! She's at the elevators ahead of schedule!" Brandt answered and Helene blanched. "Shoot!" She turned to exchange glances with Benji, but he was already communicating silently with Jane.

"Go! Give me your converter!" He hissed and Jane groaned before tossing him her sticker gun and running back for the room. Turning he threw it to Helene.

"We can't open this door, can we?" Ethan asked suddenly and Helene paused halfway down to the floor in front of the door Jane didn't finish.

"The door? No." Brandt answered blankly. "Ethan you need to get down here now!" He warned while flicking a couple switches on the webcam controls.

Helene bit her lip. "Brandt, where is Moreau?" She asked, tapping her COMM as Benji hastily tried to finish the last details on the decoy room.

"She's still climbing up the elevator. How are things going from your end, Meyer?" Brandt responded. Helene shrugged.

"We're just about good I think. I'll send Helene back as soon as she's finished with her decals so she can help you keep an eye on the cameras and Ethan." Benji picked up his tie to speak into his COMM then turned to nod at Helene.

Helene nodded back. "I'm almost done, Brandt." She said and stood after securing the last screw in place. "I'm on my way."

"Hey Ethan, is there a problem?..Ethan?" Brandt tapped on his earpiece making it crackle.

Helene felt her mouth go dry as the silence stretched between them. She picked up her pace. "Ah!" Jane started when Helene suddenly re-entered the base room slamming the door behind her.

Brandt whirled from the window. "Is he okay?" Helene asked making sure not to cross all the way across the room. Brandt just shrugged.

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes at the couple before going to the bathroom to change clothes.

Helene sat down in front of the computer and leaned over to zoom in on a couple cameras.

"We're not going to make it." Brandt softly murmured. Helene snapped her head up from the monitor. "We HAVE to make it!" She shot at him before bringing the screen back to normal view.

Moreau was just about to reach her floor. They were running out of time.

"Where is Ethan?" She gritted her teeth and started to tap her foot incessently while Brandt paced from the window.

Jane started to walk out from the bathroom when a loud crash sounded overhead making all three people in the room jump with fright.

Brandt and Jane were the first to collect themselves though Helene quickly followed suit and followed her two companions across the living area to the open window.

"Don't look down." Brandt warned before looking up to see where Ethan was. Helene nodded and followed his gaze where Ethan was dangling by some kind of rope just inches from their location.

"Your line's not long enough!" Brandt shouted over the growing noise of the wind. Ethan turned an annoyed look in his direction. "No S***!"

Helene bit down on her lip. "How the heck are we going to get him in here?" She wondered aloud while Jane tightened her jaw.

Ethan leaned back on his line a little. Looking back over his shoulder he swung back against the wall using both feet to balance himself and turned his body around instantly in the opposite direction of their base room.

Helene gasped as his brisk footsteps echoed through the walls. "What's he doing?" She asked though neither Jane or Brandt could answer her.

Suddenly Ethan reappeared on the other side of the hotel pushing himself off from the building just enough to propel him right toward the open window. At the last possible second he released his line making everyone's stomachs drop to their feet.

Brandt recovered first and immediately put his arm out gesturing for Jane and Helene to get back so they could give Ethan some entry room.

Helene started to obey when Ethan smashed into the top of the window head first and plummeted back toward the ground.

Brandt made a lunge for him and grabbed him by the ankle falling straight out of the window in process.

"Will!" Helene reacted at about the same time as Jane, both quickly grabbing onto each of Brandt's legs to prevent him from falling out with Ethan.

Helene gasped when their combined weight started to pull them over, but at the last possible second she grabbed onto the underside of an armchair at the same time that Jane dug her nails into the rug.

The falling stopped, but they were stuck and Helene could feel her grip slipping. Jane let out agonized grunt as Brandt and Ethan's combined weight started to drag her over a bit. "Guys!..."

Helene bit her lip. "I can't hold on!..."

Ethan moved first. Slowly without throwing Brandt and the girls off balance he reached upwards towards the window and climbed carefully over Brandt to get into the room.

Brandt followed once Ethan's weight was no longer heavily relying on him and managed to get inside without much trouble though Helene started panicking the minute he collapsed on the floor.

"Will!" She started to check him over for injuries, but Brandt stopped her. "Ethan hit his head." He nodded at the exhausted agent next to him, but Ethan shook his head.

"Don't worry I'm fine. How much time till door knock?" He asked struggling to get back on his feet. Helene walked over and pushed her hand against his chest preventing him from doing so.

"Follow my finger with your eyes." She directed, holding up her index finger. Slowly she moved it back and forth across Ethan's direct and peripherial vision.

Ethan reluctantly complied though he was clearly annoyed at having to subject himself to this.

Benji walked in just as Helene finished checking the slight bruising that was near the middle of Ethan's forehead and laughed to himself.

"Whoo! Haha, that was not easy but uh...I did it!" He announced beaming proudly at himself before noticing the group at the window.

Brandt and Ethan turned to glare at him as Helene got up from her examination.

"What'd I miss?" Benji asked and Jane rolled her eyes. Brandt stood and smiled a bit when Helene walked past him passing him a towel from his still open bag on the table.

"Hey thanks." Brandt grinned and started to wipe himself off. Helene glared and smacked him in the chest.

"Ow!" Brandt winced and stumbled backwards almost dropping the towel from the impact. Helene sighed and rolled her eyes at the bewildered look on his face.

"If you ever scare me like that again, I will kill you! Do you understand me?" She attempted to tower over Brandt, but he was easily four inches taller than she was.

Jane and Benji stared confusedly between them.

"Guys, we need to move." Ethan went to grab his shirt from the chair and put it on while Benji started and went to monitor the computer.

Jane narrowed her eyes at Helene and Brandt before going to change into her disguise for Moreau.

"Brandt! You need to get suited up." Ethan called from the other side of the room. Brandt sighed and glanced back at Helene.

"Helene, could you come here for a second?" Jane asked and Helene immediately left to take up her new post. Brandt sighed and turned to go join Ethan.

...


	6. Chapter 6

(Here is the next chapter. Enjoy! I own nothing but Helene)

...

"Okay the lens might be a little uncomfortable, but it captures images and transmits them to the printer in the briefcase." Jane tried to help Brandt get his special contact lens on.

Helene was across the room trying to help Benji get his housekeeping uniform on without making his prosthetic arm too obvious, but there was obvious tension between them in the room and everyone could feel it.

No one wanted to address it though. Especially when time was so short.

"Aw." Brandt groaned, trying to get used to the feeling in his eye.

"All right?" Jane asked bending over so she could see if the contact was going in crooked.

"Mmm...can't see out of one eye, but I'm fine." Brandt mumbled trying to refrain from rubbing his eye.

"Benji stop!" Helene hissed suddenly and flicked Benji in the wrist when he tried to fiddle with his prosthetic again.

"Ow!...What?" Benji flinched, scowling at Helene at little though she did not look up from the sleeve of his room service uniform which she was trying to hem since it was a tad long on Benji's third arm. Jane glanced warily over at them as she went to grab a sheet of paper Benji had prepared earlier from his laptop.

"Okay blink twice to activate the shutter." She instructed and held up the paper where Brandt could easily read the numbers that were printed in faint black ink.

"Notice how the numbers are in order?" Brandt nodded and blinked twice to test the lens out. The briefcase behind them started to hum and Jane turned to grab the print out inside.

She smiled. "See?...A perfect copy." She turned to show Brandt the new sheet. "But the numbers are scrambled."

Brandt nodded his head. "So uh do I need to hold the codes a certain distance or anything?" He asked blinking again to relieve the discomfort.

Jane shook her head. "It's self adjusting so just look at it like you would a normal paper." She responded in time. Brandt nodded his head. "Right of course."

"Brandt, can you hand me that safety pin on the table? I'm going to have to pin up the sleeve on Benji's prosthetic here. It's not staying." Helene called irritably from across the room.

Brandt sighed and turned to look for the safety pin as Jane set the test copy aside on a chair. "Got it." He grabbed the object from the coffee table and walked the short distance across the room to hand it to her.

"Helene," He called softly to get her attention. Helene turned and grabbed the safety pin from his outstretched hand. "Thanks." She tried not to smile, but Brandt noticed.

"Hey...I'm sorry all right?" He whispered though Benji caught it and glanced between them suspiciously.

Helene sighed and opened the safety pin with her mouth. "I know." She bent and fixed the sleeve on Benji's prosthetic knowing Brandt would understand her unspoken words through her seemingly short and meaningless answer.

"Brandt." Jane called the analyst back and he reluctantly left to see what she needed.

"Masks?" Ethan asked, finally emerging from the other room dressed in a fresh suit.

"Sixty seconds." Benji answered as Helene finished up with his disguise. "You sure I shouldn't wear a mask? You know, cause I'm not exactly Omar Sharif. I'll play it French." He started to babble, but Ethan shot him a look.

"Right. This is your tracking device." Benji handed Ethan a cellphone. "And this is what you're tracking." He pulled a stack of paper from his desk.

"The paper clip?" Ethan asked and Benji rolled his eyes. "No it's the paper! It's in the briefcase. It's coated with isotopes which give off a unique...It just means that you can track the documents even if they switch briefcases." He explained hastily.

"Good luck." Helene muttered as she passed by Jane and Brandt and took a seat at the computer.

"How's the range?" Ethan asked studying the papers for a bit. "Not that good. It's like half a mile." Benji shook his head. "Safest thing to do would be not let Wistrom out of your sight. Is that Wistrom?" He did a double take at the screen.

Helene quickly adjusted the monitor and hit the proper key combination to enlarge the cameras.

Ethan bent over her shoulder to get a better look. "Who's that with him?" He asked Benji, but the tech agent could only shake his head.

"I don't know. We don't have an uplink, so there's no facial recognition."

Ethan grabbed the laptop. "Who is that with him?" He asked again this time pointing the screen at Brandt.

"Uh that's Leonid Lisenker. Polish born, cryptographer. He redesigned Russia's nuclear security after the Cold War." Brandt idenfitied quickly as the figures he was focused on moved quickly through the lobby.

"He's here to the authenticate the launch codes." Helene realized and Jane's eyes widened.

"Yes he is. We are blown." Brandt agreed. "No, we are not blown." Ethan retorted.

"Well we _will_ be as soon as he sees the counterfeit launch codes." Helene contradicted.

"We are _not_ blown." Ethan repeated.

"He's in the elevator." Benji sing-songed. "Delay them!" Ethan snapped. "Benji, how long would it take you to reprogram the case?" He pointed at the tech agent again.

"A couple of seconds. What for though?" Benji asked.

Helene and Brandt both looked up to watch Ethan, tense as he paced the room. "To make an exact copy of the launch codes." He spoke after a minute.

Jane dropped the revolver she had been tucking into her belt. "What?"

"Whoa whoa Ethan! You can't do that!" Brandt exclaimed springing forwards towards the briefcase at Ethan's suggestion.

"Wistrom's on 22." Benji chimed in.

"Slow him down!" Ethan ordered.

Benji threw his hands up in the air. "I'll do what I can." He leaned back over his laptop just as Ethan reached for the case. Brandt got there first.

"Wait wait! Ethan hang on now! Hang on! You're talking about handing over active nuclear launch codes to Wistrom?" He asked setting his hand on top of the briefcase before Ethan could grab it.

"Yes. Reprogram the case." Ethan nodded, directing his last order at Benji. Benji started to comply when Brandt snatched the briefcase.

"Listen stop stop! Just listen to what you're saying! You're fixating! You're not thinking clearly!" He started backing toward the open window. Helene's eyes grew wide as she realized what Brandt was about to do.

"Will wait!" She sprang up from the sofa.

"It's not going to happen, Helene! I won't let it!" Brandt interrupted holding the briefcase out through the window.

"Thirty Three and climbing." Benji chimed in.

"Will," Ethan lowered his voice his tone taking a firm yet understanding timbre. "Use your head now. The mission is not the codes, the mission is Hendricks." He tried to talk him down.

Brandt did not move from the window.

"Then just let it play out! Give him bad codes! Neutralize him!" He retorted. Ethan shook his head.

"You know that won't do it. Failure to a terrorist is just rehearsal for success."

"41!"

"We lose Hendricks today, he shows up somewhere else tomorrow. He finds another way. WIth fresh codes and no IMF to stop him! It's now or never. Now Brandt, give me the case." Ethan held out his hand.

Brandt shook his head. "Nothing can be left to chance. You said that." He edged closer to the window. Helene and Jane started to approach him.

"Will, give him the case." Helene tried to sound firm, but she was afraid he wouldn't listen to her. Ethan reached for the briefcase again.

"You're the analyst, Brandt. Now tell me there's not another way for Hendricks to get those codes."

"50!" Benji shouted over Ethan.

"You tell me that this is his only avenue right here, right now today. You tell me that. I'll walk away." Ethan swore.

Brandt started to respond when a horrible screeching sound came from the mask making machine making everyone including Benji jump.

Helene hurdled around the coffee table to check the masks and groaned when she saw the mess. Jane bit the inside of her cheek.

"Please tell me the masks are okay." She muttered without much confidence. Helene sighed after checking the cutters and the spray devices.

She looked up at Ethan and he understood instantly without her having to say anything. "We go without."

"What without masks?" Benji sounded shocked.

Ethan signaled at Jane. "Jane needs to go." He ignored Benji's statement.

"Ethan." Jane started to voice her discomfort with the new plan, but he cut her off. "We have no choice." He told her.

"Ethan, you'd be walking in on Moreau unarmed. Face first! Literally! It's suicide!" Helene protested looking up from the remains of the prosthetic masks.

"How do we know they've met?" Ethan asked, turning his gaze towards Helene.

"Well how do we know they haven't?" Jane countered.

"It doesn't matter!" Brandt cut in, frustrated as he pulled his arm back into the room. "D*** it. We have no choice." He reluctantly handed the briefcase back to Ethan.

Ethan took the case and tossed it to Benji who immediately began to program the printer.

Jane grabbed her jacket off the couch and Helene went to grab Brandt's from the armchair. "Catch!" She tossed it at him and he caught it before slipping it on.

"Benji, how's the case coming?" Ethan asked impatiently after a few minutes had passed as he fixed the cuffs of his shirt. "Just a second..." Benji tapped his fingers on the table until the lights flashed green again.

"Okay done!" He passed the case to Jane who took it with her to the room redone for her. Benji got up to find his tea cart as Ethan and Brandt prepared to leave.

Helene started to follow them.

"No, Helene you stay here and monitor everyone on the computer. If anything happens radio in okay?" Benji instructed her quickly before going into the spare bedroom.

Helene nodded her head. "Will do." She turned to glance at Brandt as he nervously fixed his tie. "Here goes nothing." He murmured in a low tone of voice.

Helene sighed and quickly crossed the room. Pushing Brandt's hands aside, she straightened his tie then set her hands down on his shoulders. "You got this." She said firmly before kissing him swiftly on the cheek.

Ethan's eyebrows skyrocked to the ceiling at that while Benji's jaw dropped at about the same time his hat did from his hands.

Brandt barely concealed his smile. "Time to move." He directed the remark at Ethan, but he was looking at Helene.

Helene immediately averted her gaze. "You two better get going." She said without missing a beat. Ethan nodded.

"Good luck." He pulled the door shut after himself and Brandt with a quiet thud.

Benji sighed completely flabbergasted as he bent to retrieve his hat.

...


	7. Chapter 7

(Chapter 7. Enjoy! I own nothing but Helene)

...

"Goggles...what if they have met?" Helene heard Brandt worry a few minutes after Benji had left to collect the diamonds from Wistrom.

"Focus Brandt." She spoke softly into her communicator, hoping he would hear her as she kept an eye both on him and Jane's positions in the hotel. From another camera angle, she could see Benji coming down the hallway with his tea cart and Wistrom approaching Jane's room from another hallway.

He and Leonid stopped at the door and knocked. Helene held her breath. "Come in." She heard Jane answer calmly from the other side in a thickly accented voice.

Wistrom opened the door and led the way into the room where Jane waited seemingly calm and composed on the outside. Helene quickly diverted her attention to the real Moreau where Ethan and Brandt were standing guarded by several men in black suits in her doorway.

Moreau gazed between them and inclined her head once she had finished with her observation. "Which one of you is Wistrom?" She asked, making Helene and the others relax significantly.

"I am." Ethan responded readily and Helene turned to watch Jane again.

"Which one of you is Wistrom?" Jane asked still using her accent and the two men turned from the window to focus on her.

"I am." Wistrom spoke almost simultaneously with Ethan. "I admire your work." He smiled.

Jane smiled back.

"Sit." Moreau motioned to the chairs on the opposite side of the sofa which she was currently standing in front of. Brandt and Ethan readily complied.

"Where are my codes?" Ethan asked, in a tone similar to one Wistrom would use.

"Where are my diamonds?" Moreau countered.

Helene saw Benji approaching Jane's room. "Benji's in position." She spoke softly, hoping Ethan and Brandt would pick it up.

"You have my payment?" Jane asked and Wistrom smiled discreetly. "When I see the codes." He said calmly.

"I have arrived at Jane's room." Benji spoke into his COMM and Helene nodded as he knocked on the door.

Wistrom and Leonid flinched slightly when they heard the knock.

"Ah! Not to worry. Come in!...I thought we could have tea." Jane said getting up to answer the door.

Benji entered, smiling brightly at the two men seated across the room.

"Mademoiselle...Monsieur." He greeted Jane first.

Helene smothered a smile at Benji's avid cheerfulness and returned to her attention back to Moreau.

"No diamonds. No codes." She smirked coldly at the two men before lowering herself gently onto the couch.

"No codes, no diamonds." Ethan answered.

Moreau frowned. "Kill this one." She glared at him.

Helene tensed. "Benji, do you have the diamonds?" She asked, hoping no one, but the tech agent would hear her.

"We didn't come alone. That hallway out there is a kill box." Ethan said, quite calmly for someone who just recieved a direct death threat.

"You know who we work for." Brandt added, quite threateningly given his earlier unease with the job.

"We come back with the codes or don't come back at all." Ethan finished. Moreau seemed impressed.

"How good is your back up?" She asked.

"The best." Brandt smiled.

Moreau laughed at his confidence. "I've killed the best." She said snarkily. Helene heard Jane inhale sharply when she heard that.

She frowned. "Benji, you need to move." She tapped her earpiece again, turning her attention back to Jane's room.

"Do you care for some sugar?" Benji asked and Helene knew he was trying to pick up the pace subtly.

"Enough. Let's get this done." Ethan's voice cut into her COMM again. "You want payment. I want guarantees. When he's authenticated the codes. I'll make the call and you get your diamonds. That or we all go home in buckets. Nobody leaves this hotel alive." He threatened.

Moreau contemplated Ethan's words. "Get the papers." She said finally and one of the black suits turned to grab something behind a table.

Out of the corner of her eye, Helene saw Jane retrieve the tampered case from behind a potted plant just as Benji left the room.

"Okay! I've got the diamonds. I'm en route to Moreau. Stand by, Helene." He whispered into his COMM. Helene nodded her head as she watched Wistrom struggle with the briefcase for a minute.

"Benji's on the move." She spoke into her COMM to confirm it to Ethan and Brandt.

"Is there a problem?" Jane asked and Wistrom looked up at her. "It's locked." He said, clearly unamused.

Jane glanced down at the case anyway and smirked slightly. "Ah, forgive me. There must be a key. One moment, huh?" Jane said, getting a bit nervous.

Helene started tapping her fingernails on the keyboard as she waited for Benji to reach Moreau's room.

"Ah...my mistake. It's a combination, not a key." Jane said after pretending to search her room for a keychain.

Wistrom kept her from taking the case back. "You tell me the numbers." He said in a low menacing voice. Jane merely raised her head.

"They're good." Brandt spoke, directing his gaze at Ethan though he was really telling Jane that he was finished replicating the codes.

"Zero," Jane began as Benji reached Moreau's room. "Zero...Zero." She finished just as Benji was admitted into Moreau's room. A minute later he emerged, breathing in relief before heading back down the hallway.

"Okay! Payment delivered." He confirmed and Helene sighed a bit in relief. It was almost over. As soon as Moreau got her diamonds and Wistrom got his code copies, they could make a break for it onto phase two of their plan.

"Whoo!" Benji dashed into the room, startling Helene a little as he shut the door behind him. "That's over. How are we doing?" He asked coming over to look at the computer next to Helene after pulling off his disguise.

She moved over to give him space. "They're about to wrap up. Keep your fingers crossed. We're not out of this yet." She shot Benji a look before getting up from the couch.

Benji resumed her spot.

"It was a pleasure doing business with-." Jane started and got cut off when Wistrom slammed the door after himself.

Helene tapped her COMM. "Jane, what happened?" She asked, sensing that something had gone wrong.

"Wistrom's got the launch codes. He's on the move." Jane responded no longer using her fake Russian accent.

Helene glanced towards the doorway. She knew they were right down the hallway from their position and tentatively reached for her gun, wondering if she ought to go after him since Jane was too far off and everyone else was too busy.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you." Moreau said calmly from the other room. Helene waited tense for the meeting to end.

"Kill him!" Moreau suddenly screamed and a gun shot went off. Helene spun on her heel and ran for the door, pulling her revolver out from the back holster of her belt.

"Where are you going?" Benji asked, more like demanded when he saw the gun in the medic's hand.

Helene didn't bother to answer him.

"Moreau's on the move!" Ethan called through the COMM in between throwing punches.

Helene cocked the gun.

"I've got her!" Jane snarled and Helene heard the sound of fabric being whipped through the air.

"Jane! She's an asset! I need...her...alive!" Ethan shouted, punctuating each word with a jab as the fighting continued on his line.

Helene threw open the door.

"Acknowledge!" Ethan called, but there was no response. Helene gritted her teeth together.

"ACKNOWLEDGE!" Ethan tried again.

"Acknowledged!" Helene responded, making for Jane's room just as Moreau skidded into her path.

Seeing her Moreau fired a few shots in her direction, but Helene managed to dodge them and fired back making sure to avoid her vital spots just as Jane came rounding the corner.

Helene paled when she saw the fury blazing through her eyes. "Jane!" She tried to get her attention, but the agent was deaf to her.

Giving up on diplomacy, Helene reloaded her gun and followed the two women towards the stairwell.

"Helene! Come in!" She suddenly heard Brandt's voice call to her on the COMM. She reached up to tap her earpiece. "Will! What's going on?" She asked, slowing her pursuit a little despite herself.

"I need you at the elevators! Leonid's been shot! Two to the chest!" Brandt explained. Helene blanched. "What?" She paused watching as Jane and Moreau tumbled out of view.

She knew she ought to follow them and make sure Jane did not kill Moreau against Ethan's orders, but Leonid was also an asset. If she could save him, he could probably help them track Hendricks before he activated the launch codes.

"Helene?" Brandt called to her, when she failed to respond to him. Helene bit her lip. "I'll be right there." She tapped her COMM and turned to head back towards the elevators praying with all her might that Jane wouldn't do anything rash.

"Oh my God!" Helene paled when she reached Brandt. A severely hemorraging Leonid was lying on the floor propped up against the wall in front of him. His hands stained a deep bloody red.

"Oh my God!" The medic quickly slid to her knees in front of the dying man and removed Brandt's hands carefully so she could see how deep the bullets had gone in. She could tell already though, just by how much blood was staining the carpet and Leonid's shirt that he wasn't going to last another hour.

Not without the proper medical attention at least.

"Hey hey! Stay with me! Stay with me!" Brandt tried to coax the man as Helene hastily tried to reapply pressure to his wounds.

"I won't be able to remove the bullets until the bleeding stops, and he's already lost so much blood." Helene nodded and grimaced at the puddle beneath her feet.

Brandt grimaced at her diagnosis. "We've got to do what we can." He said frowning as he continued to monitor Leonid's pulse.

Helene glared at the blood that seeped through her hands as she quickly tried to think of an altenate solution to their problem.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do!" She motioned at Brandt. "I need you to keep applying pressure to his wounds. I'll try to make some make shift bandages here and if they hold we'll get him back to the base room and fix him up." She switched positions with Brandt and started to tear at the fabric lining her jacket.

Leonid's breathing suddenly became labored. "No no no! Don't go to sleep on me! Look at me! Look at me Leonid! We're going to help you!" Brandt started to get louder, his tone becoming more and more frantic as the light faded in Leonid's eyes.

Helene stopped tearing and looked up to gauge the other man's condition with a worried expression. "Leonid?" She tried to calling his name and his gaze moved to meet hers for a second, then his eyes rolled and he went horribly still. His head rolling back over his shoulder as his last breath left him.

"No no no no no no no no." Brandt panicked as he instinctively tried to apply more pressure to Leonid's bullet wounds.

Helene just stared in shock at the dead man in front of her. "Leonid?.." She reached to check for a pulse. Her heart plummeted sixteen feet when she felt nothing in his jugular.

Brandt reluctantly took his hands off of Leonid's chest and started to gaze in Helene's direction when a gun shot went off startling both of them.

"Oh shoot! Jane!" Helene hissed and threw herself to her feet. Brandt followed and both of them cocked their guns at the same time before entering the room where Jane and Moreau were struggling with each other getting dangerously close to the open window frame.

Brandt fired a few shots in their direction trying to distract Moreau as Helene dashed forward nearly tripping over Benji who was knocked out on the floor.

"Jane!" She tried to get Jane's attention, but at that moment Moreau flipped her to the ground and grabbed the gun when it got loose in the tussle.

Jane was already reacting though and as Moreau got ready to shoot her, she kicked out with her right leg knocking her straight out of the window.

"Jane no!" Brandt shouted, but it was too late.

Helene stared in shock at the other woman as Moreau's screams faded away gradually into the wind.

Brandt lowered his gun as Jane got up, huffing and puffing with the same fiery look still set in her face as he and Helene stared her down.

"Ohhh..." Benji groaned and slowly came to, rubbing his head as Helene dropped her gun.

_What have you done?..._

...


	8. Chapter 8

(Chapter 8. Hope you enjoy! I know the big argument between Brandt and Jane was one of my favorite parts to write :) I own nothing but Helene)

...

It didn't take long to leave the hotel. After a brief run in with some Russian mercernaries, the team managed to meet back up with Ethan at a safe house several miles away from the Burj Khalifa.

No one spoke on the journey there. Helene and Brandt were both in too much shock over what they just witnessed to say anything and Jane was too busy trying to avoid being questioned.

Even Benji was tense and his incessant typing on his computer seemed to make Jane even more on edge than she already was.

"What happened?" Ethan asked the second they all got out of the car in front of the safe house.

Brandt glared at Jane. "Ask her." He all but snarled as he struggled to contain himself.

Jane glared back at him. "Moreau's dead." Helene spoke up before an argument could break out. "Leonid too. He was shot twice in the chest." She tried to speak calmly, but her heart was still racing.

Ethan looked at her shocked. "What?!" He turned his gaze back towards Jane, but she just huffed at him and stomped her way past him to get inside the safe house.

Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes as if Benji just told him he spilled his coffee on his computer.

Helene watched as he turned to follow Jane inside and Benji followed suit. Brandt started to go after them and Helene tagged along.

The tension was definitely high and it only got worse once they got inside the safe house.

"Now what happened with Moreau, Jane?" Brandt asked, unable to contain himself anymore as he watched Jane wash her face in the kitchen.

Helene glanced warningly up at Brandt as Jane calmly grabbed a towel from the counter. "She couldn't help us with Hendricks." She retorted, clearly still furious, but trying to contain her anger unlike Brandt.

"Yeah! So let's throw her off the building then!" Brandt raised his voice. Jane threw her towel back on the counter. "I didn't throw her!" She snapped, glaring at Brandt again.

Helene started to interject. "Let's throw her off the building! She was NOT the mission, Jane!" Brandt shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

Helene cringed at him while Benji practically jumped up three feet out of his seat in fright.

"The mission was to trace the file back to Hendricks! Who is IN THE WIND! With nuclear launch codes I might add!" Brandt towered over Jane.

"Will, stop it. This doesn't help anything." Helene tried to reason with him, but no one was listening to her except Benji.

"Maybe you guys didn't notice the gun she had pointed at me!" Jane retorted, losing control of her anger again.

Brandt laughed bitterly at that. "Oh yeah! Like you didn't notice the open window, OR that we were about a mile up in the air!" He shot back at her, clearly not willing to back down anytime soon.

"It was an instinctive move! Helene saw it too!" Jane stomped her foot.

Helene shook her head. "I'm not getting in the middle of this." She said darkly yet firmly.

"It doesn't matter what she saw!" Brandt continued to yell. "We're talking about a nuclear war here Jane! The asset is more important than you!"

Helene felt her jaw go slack at that.

"Where do you get off telling me how well I executed it?!" Jane accused him. "You're nothing but an Analyst! We inherited you and your little sidekick!" She hissed clearly not thinking logically anymore.

"You think I need you to tell me what the mission is?"

Brandt rolled his eyes. "Apparently so."

"Really?! Well you need to learn to how DO your mission! How about that?" Jane cried.

"All right! That's it! You two need to cut it out!" Helene finally stood from the table, bumping her knee into the underside of the piece of furniture with a noticeable bang.

Jane turned to glare at her. "Stay out of this, Meyer! You did no better than I did with Leonid!" Helene stared at her shock.

"Oh so all of a sudden this is _my _fault? Last I checked, I wasn't the one who shot Leonid!" She answered, getting annoyed.

"No, but you failed to save him! He was an asset too and none of us would be arguing right now, if at least _you_ had done your job correctly!" She started to round in on Helene.

Brandt stepped between them. "Hey don't go pinning on this on Helene! She did what she could!"

"You're saying I didn't?!" Jane turned her glare back at him.

"Clearly! Since we have no living assets with us right now!" Brandt retorted.

"Will drop it! Right now or I swear I will knock you both out before you can count to three!" Helene warned, pulling out her gun and slamming it on the table. Brandt could see in her expression that she was clearly vexed with her new teammates right now especially with him.

Jane sighed and turned to walk away from Brandt as he struggled to take a deep breath. Helene continued to stare him down until he turned to go sit on a bench across the room from where Jane was.

"How the h*** did the Russians even find us?" Jane asked, her tone not changing with her volume as she suddenly marched up to Benji.

Benji looked up meekly from his laptop. "What are you asking me for?" He asked calmly, clearly uncomfortable under Jane's gaze.

"Because you're communications! You're in charge of covering up our tracks!" Jane snapped suddenly slamming her hand down on the lid of Benji's laptop.

"I'm sorry are you inferring-?" Benji started, but got cut off by Brandt.

"You cannot afford to make mistakes like that now, Benji. You're not a technician anymore! You're a field agent!" He spoke from across the room.

Ethan chose that second to walk back into the main area from the bathroom where he had been cleaning up. "And you're just an analyst! Right?..." He turned his gaze towards Brandt.

"Right?..."

Helene sighed and turned to walk into the bathroom as Ethan rounded in on Brandt. "Who are you really, Brandt?" He asked just as Helene shut the bathroom door and locked it.

There was a short pause as Ethan waited for an answer.

"What are you asking?" Brandt asked after a minute, clearly thrown.

Ethan sighed. "Oh, what am I asking? Let me see if I can put it another way." Helene heard the click of a gun and tensed grabbing the edge of the sink as she listened to the tussle going on outside.

She had about half a mind to go back, when the struggling suddenly stopped and Helene heard Ethan's voice.

"How does an Agent with skills like that, end up an Analyst?" He asked and Helene opened the door a crack.

"For that matter...since when does a Medic know how to handle herself with an advanced type fire arm?" Ethan added, making Helene realize she had left her gun on the table where the others could find it.

Brandt sighed and lowered the gun he had pointed at Ethan's head. "Well, we all have our secrets." He said looking up to meet Ethan's eyes. "Don't we, Ethan?"

Helene shut the door again and locked it as Brandt handed the gun back to Ethan. "You tell me yours and Helene's, I'll tell you mine." Ethan said without missing a beat.

Helene waited for Brandt to respond to him, but no one spoke. Finally she returned to the sink and turned on the water, not waiting for it to get cold before splashing some on her face.

"I have friends in the region." Ethan spoke up when the silence had lasted too long between them. "Just sit tight. I'll send someone to get you out of here. Tell Helene when she gets out of the bathroom!" He said, his footsteps walking across the room.

Helene straightened up in front of the sink with a start.

"What about Hendricks? What's the plan?" Jane asked.

"The Plan, was to stop Hendricks together!" Ethan retorted clearly still pissed at the rest of the group.

Helene sighed.

"Well what are you going to do?" Benji asked.

"Change the plan!" Ethan slammed the door shut.

"Wait! That's it?" Benji sounded astonished, but Ethan was already gone.

Helene heard Brandt sigh as he shuffled across the room to grab his things.

"Do you care to explain yourself, Agent Brandt?" Jane asked, the icy overtone still in her voice as Helene sank to a sitting position on the floor by the air conditioner.

She reached into her back pocket for an old cell phone she had in there and dialed a speed number after inputting her passcode.

"Hey, it's me." She whispered so she wouldn't be overheard. "How's he doing?"

...


	9. Chapter 9

(Chapter 9. Enjoy! I own nothing but Helene)

...

"We were on a protection detail in Croatia, Meyer and me." Brandt began after pouring himself a shot of scotch in the kitchen.

"Shadowing the assets, husband and wife. They were never supposed to know we were there. The whole thing routine. It was a milk run." Brandt set aside the empty shot glass after finishing the drink.

"Three days in, we caught wind that a Serbian hit squad was after our couple. But our team had it under control. We knew they were coming. But I still couldn't shake this feeling that I should warn the couple somehow. I wanted to find a way to let them know...but orders are orders so I didn't..and neither did Helene." Brandt swallowed hard as the memory started to replay before him.

"One day the husband decides to leave the hotel and go for a run so I follow him and leave Helene and two men with the wife." Brandt turned to pour himself another glass. The bathroom door opened slowly behind him.

"When I get back, Helene and my guys are unconscious and the wife is gone. Local police found her body three days later; well what was left of her anyway." He paused and Helene took this opportunity to pick up the story as she seated herself next to Benji on the bench.

"That was our last day in the field together. Will couldn't make himself face another life or death situation after that...and neither could I." Helene dropped her gaze as her throat started to close up at the memory of that night.

Neither she or Brandt got much sleep after that mission was over and nor could they really talk about it to each other for a couple of days.

In fact things only started to get better after Helene went in for her last physical check up with the IMF med staff and handed in her resignation to the IMF authorities.

"What happened to the husband?" Jane asked, her voice soft and sympathetic for the first time since they got to the safe house.

Brandt shrugged. "We never saw him again...until two days ago in Moscow when the Secretary introduced my wife and I...to Ethan Hunt." He turned to meet Helene's gaze and Benji turned to stare at his seat mate.

Jane's jaw dropped to her chest.

"Nooo that's...that's not what happened." Benji started to stammer. "She left him, she..." He trailed off when Helene started to give him a look.

"Yeah, I heard that one too Benji." Helene muttered sadly. "But unfortunately Will and I were there when they found her. Just like we were both there night the Secretary got the phone call, saying that Ethan was in custody for killing six Serbian nationals in cold blood." She glared at the tatters in her pants as if they were responsible for the situation they were in.

"An unsanctioned hit." Jane said, remembering what she had been told about the matter when she and Benji were sent to break Ethan out.

"Yup." Brandt confirmed.

"Disavowed." Helene added. Brandt sighed and walked across the room to a table.

"It was about that time when Helene told me she was pregnant." He did not look at Helene as he continued.

"We decided to quit the IMF after that for several reasons...and nine months later we had a son. Things got better in a lot of ways...but then of course, we got called in four months after that to join the Secretary in Russia. Next thing I know we're on our way to Dubai with Ethan and I'm wondering, do I tell him?...How do I tell him?" He looked at Jane.

"That I..._we_ were responsible." Helene shook her head. "I could have warned him...I should have warned him. But I didn't. And now she's dead." Brandt sank grief stricken into the empty chair by the table as he finished his speech.

For awhile no one spoke and no one moved save for Benji who could never keep himself from fidgeting when things got awkward.

"So...Brandt, you and Helene are..." Jane started and trailed off. Helene bit her lip. "Will and I are ex-agents of the IMF. As far as I'm concerned, I'll always be an EX. I just never forgot what I learned while being on the field with Will." She picked up her gun and twirled it carelessly between her fingers before tucking it into her belt.

Brandt sighed and slapped his hand over his forehead.

"We shouldn't even be here right now." He muttered so only Helene would hear him. "We were supposed to have gotten home to our son yesterday not trying to take out the world's most dangerous terrorist while working under the radar of the government." He suddenly slammed his hands on the table making Benji jump again.

Helene rolled her eyes. "A lot of good that does us now, Brandt." She got up and walked across the short distance to the table where he sat.

Jane discreetly got up and headed into a bedroom on the second floor of the house presumably to rest while Benji meanwhile just hunched down lower over his laptop trying to give the couple at least a little bit of privacy.

"You know I'll never be able to live with myself if something were to happen you." Brandt's voice broke with emotion as Helene came to sit next to him. "When we lost Cassie-." Helene cut him off, putting her hand over his mouth to make him stop talking.

"You won't lose me." She said quietly, but firmly her gaze all but daring Brandt to disagree with her.

Brandt grabbed her hand. "You don't know that." He argued in an equally quiet voice, unshed tears gleamed in his pale grey eyes. Helene dropped her gaze.

"You're right." She seemed defeated, but she didn't stay that way for long.

Brandt sighed when he saw the look in her eyes. It was the same look she had the night he made her stay with Cassie Hunt when Ethan decided to go for a run in the dead of night.

Even though she was living through the same nightmares he was now, there was a certain strength in her gaze that he did not feel in himself.

"So what do we do now?" He asked, sounding helpless even to himself. Helene squeezed his hand.

"We stay with the team." She said as if it was the obvious answer as she brought their hands down to rest on the table. "Wait for Ethan to give us a signal and move out when the time is right. And once this is over..." She trailed off and Brandt picked up the sentence for her.

"You go home." He stared at her unsmiling as Benji glanced briefly over his laptop at them.

Helene frowned and leaned across the table when she heard the tone in Brandt's voice. "_We_ go home." She corrected. "Together."

Brandt sighed and squeezed her hand.

...

Benji got the call from Ethan late that night long after everyone else had gone to bed and the next morning, the team got packed before taking the jeep out to meet Ethan at the airport.

Benji raised an eyebrow when he saw Ethan walking out of a jet sporting the biggest grin he'd worn since the mission began.

"What's in the bags?" He asked, motioning to the pile of luggage Ethan had behind him. "It's our gear." Ethan answered him simply.

Jane looked skeptical. "How'd you get it?" She asked and Ethan shrugged.

"Made a friend." He turned to shoot Brandt and Helene a smirky look, but Brandt did not return it.

"Well I'm glad we could help." Benji muttered sarcastically before putting on his sunglasses. Ethan chuckled. "You can help now." He reassured everyone.

Brandt took his sunglasses off. "Look Ethan, before this goes any further..." He turned to glance at Helene and reached for her hand.

Ethan shook his head. "Whatever happened, happened. We still have a chance to clean this up, but we have to do it now. And we have to do it together."

Brandt and Helene exchanged glances with each other. "Okay, so where are we going?" Helene asked finally smiling as she held onto her husband's hand.

Ethan smiled back. "India."

Will turned to look at Jane and Benji. "India?"

"India." Helene repeated pushing her sunglasses back on the bridge of her nose as Jane and Benji repeated the word to themselves contemplatively.

"Sure." Benji grinned as he moved first to board the jet. "Come on Lovebirds!" He turned to shoot Brandt and Helene with a mischevious expression. Brandt rolled his eyes and Helene laughed lightly as Jane followed him next. "Love the jet." She smiled at Ethan.

"Wait till you see the car." Ethan told her.

Brandt and Helene went up last to board the plane and Ethan nodded when Brandt turned to give him a brief questioning look.

"We'll talk later. I promise." Ethan answered his unspoken question without missing a beat.

Brandt sighed. "I'll hold you to that." He muttered before leading Helene on board. Ethan smiled.

...


	10. Chapter 10

(Next Chapter. Enjoy! I own nothing but Helene)

...

Five hours in on their flight and the team is already back to work. They were going to infiltrate a high society party in Mumbai and that meant everyone had to dress the part even Benji who was just going to sneak into the engineering room to help Brandt hack into the networking system.

Helene sighed as she scrutinized herself in floor length red evening gown she was wearing in the mirror of the luxurious first class bathroom.

She couldn't remember the last time she had worn something so fancy and it made her slightly nervous especially considering what she was about to do in this dress.

"I can't do this." Jane suddenly sighed from the cabin just outside and Helene turned to glance at her through the crack in the doorway when the agent tossed the dress Ethan gave her onto the nearest empty bunk.

"You can't do what?" She asked, carefully stepping over the doorway to join the other woman in the empty room.

Jane shook her head. "This. I can get the codes from the Brij Nath no problem, but I can't do this the way Ethan wants me to!" She bit her lip and sank stiffly into the bottom bunk behind her.

Helene frowned at that. "Why not? You're a beautiful woman, I'm sure Brij Nath will definitely find you-."

"That's not that point!" Jane cut her off. "I'm an agent Helene, not a hooker. Why can't I just..." She started and trailed off as if thinking better of what she was about to say.

Helene barely bit back a smile. "Beat it out of him?" She guessed. She turned to carefully sit down next to Jane when the agent gave her a frustrated sigh in response.

"We'll you'd still have to get him alone for that and after what happened in Dubai I don't think Ethan will be friendly to another change in plans." She tried to play at some mild humor, but Jane did not laugh.

"I don't seduce, Helene...it's just not me." She murmured and her voice broke betraying the emotions she had been working so hard to conceal.

Helene sighed and turned to grab the dress Jane had tossed after offering her a sympathetic smile. "Well, if it's really going to be that difficult for you...maybe you should tell Ethan to let me go in first. Not that it will be any easier for me or anything."

She handed the long green gown back to Jane before smoothing her hand back over her dress.

Jane shook her head. "I can't. Brandt would kill me. Besides Ethan'd just say to try to think about the first boy I liked or something." Helene inclined her head. "What's the matter with that idea?"

"I never had to seduce the guy I wanted. I got his attention the minute I hit him during a sparring match." Jane stared down at the dress in her hands with distaste.

The look in her eyes made Helene's heart ache from the pain she saw leaking through the other woman's eyes since she'd first met her that fateful night on the train car.

"Agent Hanaway...he was the boy wasn't he?" Helene asked carefully hoping Jane wouldn't get angry at her question.

"Yes..." Jane nodded her head. Helene dropped her gaze and reached over to pat the agent on the shoulder when she started shaking a little. "I'm sorry. I understand now why you got so upset...if Will knew, I'm sure he wouldn't have been so harsh with you earlier." She glanced back towards the door that led into the main area of the jet plane.

Jane rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah right. He'd still blame me for what happened with Moreau. She was the asset not me." She wiped her eyes then stood shakily to her feet, still clutching the gown in her hand.

Helene stood to join her. "What's done is done, Jane. It's like Ethan said. The most important thing now is we set things right and stop Hendricks from achieving his goal."

Jane sighed stiffly at that. "And that's supposed to be comforting? I'm still going to humiliate myself when we get to the party." She moaned. Helene rolled her eyes.

"Ethan's going to be with you the entire time. He'll probably even talk you through it like Will had to when I was taking apart a bomb someone hid in a waste disposal unit back in Bavaria" Jane snickered at that.

"And if it really gets too hairy for you,...I'll take over as we planned and you can just walk out like a normal woman who's been spurned." Helene reached down and picked up a pair of heels Ethan had also left for Jane to change into before the plane landed.

Jane smiled slightly as she reached for the shoes. "Thanks Helene...I can see why Brandt is in love with you." She grinned and turned to walk into the bathroom to change her clothes.

...

"Comm check." Ethan said as he entered the party with Jane and separated from her to the other side of the room.

From the left side entrance he saw Helene walk in, guided by Brandt until he excused himself for a restroom break.

"Saturn's got your five by five, Jupiter." Brandt responded first as he slipped quickly through the unguarded halls to the computer array chamber.

"This is Mercury. Checking in." Helene tapped her Comm.

"This is Pluto. I have arrived at the party." Benji said last as he climbed down into the engineering room and found a spot to set up his equipment.

"There he is." Jane muttered a bit nervously when she saw Nath crossing the room to the bar where a couple scantily clad women were standing obviously enthralled by the billionaire's presence.

Helene bit her lip and reminded herself to keep her expression blank as she pretended to scope out the other attendees of the party.

"Just stay calm. Follow your instincts." She advised just before Ethan came over the line. "And get us that code."

Jane nodded her head. "Got it." She started to saunter over to the bar. Ethan tapped his COMM again. "Venus is moving on the target. Hook's in." He spoke to everyone.

"You're making an impressive impression, Jane." Helene added to help Jane's confidence. She turned to smile at a waiter who had been eyeing her desiringly before continuing her slow walk across the ballroom.

Suddenly Benji sighed. "Hey why am I Pluto again? It's not even a planet anymore." He complained as the noises from his machinery flitered through the COMM.

Brandt shrugged as he peeled off his jacket and threw it over a railing. "Well I think Uranus is available." He muttered and Helene smothered a snort.

"Ha ha ha! That's funny cause you said anus." Benji laughed back sarcastically before sitting down in front of his computer. Will sighed nervously.

"Okay. I'm in position." He announced and Helene suddenly stopped walking. "Why hello..." A low seductive voice breathed in her ear. Helene cringed.

"Sending in the Rover." Benji stated before activing the remote controls on the robot he had built to guide Brandt through the computer array.

"Meyer. Focus on the mission. Play your part." Ethan hissed through the COMM. Both Brandt and Helene tensed at that, but Helene took care not to show it on her face.

"Hello..." Helene looked up and smiled at the man standing in front of her. He was obviously very rich given the diamond cuff links on his shirt and something told the ex-agent that this was not his first time trying to pick up a woman.

"He's moving to you." Ethan spoke again and Helene frowned a bit in confusion until she realized he was talking to Jane.

"In twenty minutes, I want a glass of Cuve Louis in every guest's hand and make sure all of them have a bottle to take home by the end of the night." A man Helene correctly assumed was Nath laughed as he turned to eye Jane again with a hungry glance.

"Impressed yet?"

Jane inclined her body towards him slightly. "I'm more of a bourbon girl." She said with a sexy smile that made Helene smile too. The nerves were almost gone. Jane was working it.

"Did I say something funny?" The man Helene was still standing in front of inquired as though slightly offended by Helene's smirk.

Ethan started walking across the room eyeing both women as inconspicuously as possible.

"And Rover's in position." Benji piped up as the whir of machinery could be heard through the COMM. "Spinning down the turbine."

Helene raised her chin. "No...forgive me I was distracted." She walked forward and made a show of brushing her hand against his chest before moving past him towards Ethan's location.

"Good work Mercury." Helene heard Brandt say from the Computer room and she smirked slightly at the disgruntledness she heard in his tone.

"What? Were you jealous?" She asked in a soft voice that she thought no one would catch.

Brandt decided not to answer her.

"Saturn take the leap." Ethan spoke after a minute as Jane moved in on Brij Nath. Helene heard Brandt take a deep breath.

"Okay...Jump. Jump now?" He asked. His voice echoed through the computer turbine.

Ethan nodded his head. "Yes. Commit. Jump." He instructed still walking across the room.

Helene caught his gaze and moved to walk towards the fountain in order to avoid crossing paths with him.

"Jump." Brandt repeated again.

"Yes Jump." Ethan insisted.

"And I catch you." Benji added.

Helene frowned when she heard Brandt hyperventilating a little.

"Now." Ethan repeated, getting slightly impatient at this point.

Brandt sighed and perched himself at the entrance to the computer array.

"So uh...you're sure about this suit, right Benji?" He asked as he rolled his sleeves back over his elbows.

Benji shrugged as Helene slowly reached her hand into the fountain.

"Pretty sure."

Brandt let out a nervous laugh. "Oh now you're pretty sure?" He laughed again.

"Will focus." Helene pressed her lips together.

"So...what do you say to a night in my quarters? I'm staying in one of the finest hotels here in India." The same man who tried to seduce Helene earlier appeared from behind her again.

"Jump!" Ethan started getting louder. Helene bit her lip.

"The finest you say?" She asked trying to stall for time. The man nodded believing that Helene was interested in his offer. "The best. The bed sheets are woven from Grecian silk. We'd be alone there too." He closed the distance between them and Helene blushed.

"Oh God." Brandt groaned and Ethan rolled his eyes. "Forget about her! Jump!" He ordered.

"Okay! All right!" Brandt coached himself though he sounded like he was going to throw up.

"Brandt jump!" Ethan growled.

Helene started when she heard a loud yell and by instinct she dropped the champagne glass she was carrying causing people to gape at her when it shattered all over the glossy stone floor spilling its contents all over the rich man's freshly polished shoes.

She looked up nervously to meet her seducer's eyes when she saw the mess she had made and smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm sorry..."

"No, please!...Allow me my Dear." The man smiled, bowing before turning to call for a server in the room. Helene took her chance and ran picking up her skirts a little to go faster before the man could try to follow her.

"Jupiter, he's gone." Jane suddenly came in, sounding defeated as Helene finally managed to get behind a column.

"What do you mean he's gone?" She asked, but she didn't get an answer.

"Saturn, did you jump?" Ethan asked.

Helene groaned when she saw her seducer coming towards her again through the crowd.

"Should I not have jumped?...Cause I jumped!" Brandt's voice came hollow and echoey confirming his location.

Ethan sighed. "Stand by." He moved across the room and Helene saw him approach Jane at the bar. She tapped her COMM.

"Should I move in?" She asked already making her way across the room. Ethan shook his head.

"No, stay where you are Mercury. I'm going to play up a hunch." he told her before taking up Nath's vacated seat at the bar.

Jane turned to glance at him as Ethan reached to take her shot glass. "Don't hit me." He said.

Helene snorted as he leaned over to kiss Jane on the lips.

A few minutes later she saw Nath peeking in their direction from the left side of the ballroom. He was obviously entranced by Jane and Helene could see the hunger in his eyes as he watched Jane and Ethan kiss.

After a minute Jane smiled and looked up to find their man.

"You are a slippery creature...I like that." The man reappeared again at Helene's side. Helene suppressed a groan. "They say I'm as slippery as a fox." She muttered, keeping her voice low and seductive despite herself.

She gasped when the man suddenly grabbed her by the hips and pulled her closer to his body.

"Well I've caught slipperier foxes than you, my Sweet." He smiled and leaned over to kiss her allowing his hands to roam lower down her body.

Helene stopped breathing, her eyes widened as his highly intoxicated breath hit her nostrils.

"Saturn, how are we doing in the relay room?" Ethan's voice came on calm and collected as if he were unaware of Helene's current situation.

"I see the satellite." Benji responded.

"I still need those codes." Brandt piped in.

Helene bit her lip as the man pushed her firmly against the pillar. She planted her legs firmly on the ground and roughly grabbed his right hand before he could try to grab her thigh through her dress.

"Hands off, Greasy." She glowered at him before bending his wrist quickly in the wrong direction. The man let out a yelp and dropped to the floor, causing nearby party goers to stare in their direction.

Helene turned and ran quickly in the direction of the public toilets.

"What the h*** is that?" Brandt asked the minute Helene managed to shut herself into a stall away from the rest of the party.

She thought he was talking to her and was about to reassure him when Ethan came on almost simultaneously. "Yeah what the h*** is that?" He asked sounding worried.

It was then she heard a low humming sound coming through the COMM.

"It's going haywire!" Brandt cried as the humming grew louder. Helene frowned at that. "What the heck does that mean?" She asked hoping she sounded calm and collected.

"The computer's downloading a virus from the satellite!" Benji explained and Ethan felt his stomach plummet to his feet.

"Hendricks is killing the server before we can kill the satellite!" He realized.

"He's also reprogramming the satellite! He's gonna have launch capability in five minutes!" Benji added.

Helene clutched onto the wall for support. "Jane, you need to move." She spoke into her COMM hoping the other woman would hear her over the whirring.

"She's right, now's the time Venus. You kick his a** and get the code." Ethan confirmed. A few minutes later Helene heard a series of noises indicating a short struggle then she heard Nath gasping over the COMM.

"46...82...93!"

Helene tapped onto her COMM. "Benji! Will! Did you get that?" She asked. At that moment the whirring suddenly stopped.

"Benji, what just happened?" Brandt asked, his voice still sounding hollow.

"The system's crashed! We're too late!" Benji responded. Ethan disagreed. "No no no. He's revealed himself. Can you pinpoint his location, Benji?" He asked.

"Hendricks is signalling out ofa state run TV station 6.7 miles away from here." Benji readily responded.

"Great! Send me the coordinates and get the h*** out of there! Good work Brandt." Ethan responded and tapped out.

"Back me up!" Brandt shouted and Helene flinched when she heard him bump into a metal barriers around him. "Helene! Where are you? I'm not seeing you in the ballroom." Ethan channeled to Helene and she awkwardly reached to tap her earpiece.

"I'm in a bathroom...Sorry, I'm fine with being attractive it's just the guy was trying to move on me and I couldn't do that to Will." She muttered.

"Faster Benji! Just straight through!" Brandt shouted unable to hear anything due to the loud buzzing caused by the machinery.

"That's okay. Meet up with Benji and Brandt then. I'll get Jane and try to cut Hendricks off. Good work, Mercury." Ethan signed off and Helene rolled her eyes. "Yeah thanks." She moved to lock the stall door and waited listening as Brandt continued to bump along the turbine.

...


	11. Chapter 11

(Next Chapter. Enjoy! It's almost done. I own nothing but Helene)

...

"Helene where are you?! Are you okay?" Brandt asked, more like demanded as he and Benji searched the nearby hallways for his wife.

Helene tapped on her COMM. "I'm in a girls' toilet. East Wing." She muttered and pressed herself against the wall of the bathroom.

"Okay. Stand by! We're approaching the public lavatories on the East Wing. Come out in five seconds." Brandt responded and Helene nodded her head.

"All right." She stood carefully on her heels and pulled back the latch on the stall door. Glancing at herself in the mirror, Helene bent over to pull off her shoes before making her way to the exit.

"Helene, we're at the toilets. Are you here?" Benji's voice came over the COMM and Helene used her fist to shove open the door almost walking right into Brandt who was leading Benji down the corridor.

"Will!" She forgot the mission for a minute and threw herself into Brandt's arms, startling him and Benji effectively.

Brandt became worried though at her reaction to seeing him. "Are you all right? What happened to you?" He asked and pulled away slightly to look her over.

Helene shook her head at him. "Next time...I get to jump in the computer array." She muttered, reaching up to fix Brandt's shirt collar. Brandt rolled his eyes at that. "That bad huh?" He asked, grinning despite himself.

Helene snorted.

"Uh, I'd hate to break up the happy lover bantering, but we kinda have a terrorist to catch if you both forgot!" Benji piped up pointing towards a door that led out of the building into a side parking lot.

Brandt and Helene immediately returned their focus. "Right! Let's go get him!" Brandt nodded and grabbed Helene by the wrist.

Benji turned to lead them out to the second escape vehicle.

...

"Okay! We're here Ethan!" Benji called as he sped to the TV station with Brandt and Helene in the back seats.

Helene sighed as she tossed her ball gown into the trunk.

"You sure he didn't do anything to you?" Brandt asked for what seemed like the hundreth time since they'd gotten into the car.

Helene sighed and pulled on a button up.

"For the last time, yes. Hand me my boots, will you?" She asked and Brandt nodded before turning to rummage through the bag again.

"Are you sure?...I mean up until I was in the array I could hear everything he was saying and I didn't like what I was hearing." He shuddered suddenly. Helene bit her lip.

"You think I did? Feel free to kick Ethan in the nads for me after this is all over." She muttered glaring at the traffic as she zipped up her jacket halfway. Brandt started to respond when Ethan came over the COMM.

"Hey! How long until Hendricks can launch a missile?" He asked and Benji glanced down at the monitor.

"Less than 30 seconds!" He responded and glanced back at his passengers. Brandt tossed Helene her shoes before looking out through the window.

"We need another route!" Ethan responded and Helene grabbed onto Benji's seat to brace herself after pulling on her boots.

"You can turn left on the next street! Take the alley on your right!" She shouted hoping Ethan would hear her and bent to tie her last boot as Benji took another turn.

"Ethan, Hendricks has started the launch sequence!" Benji started to get ancy.

"How much time until the missiles are flying?" Ethan asked.

"Three minutes!" Benji responded.

"D*** it!" Brandt cursed. Helene frowned at the traffic.

"We can make it." Ethan said almost as if he had heard Brandt curse.

"Next left." Helene heard Jane and exhaled tensely.

"Ethan?" Benji's face fell. "We're too late. The missile's in the air." He frowned when the car's computer system showed him a fatal message.

Helene felt her heart jump into her throat. "What?" Brandt asked, more like demanded.

He heard a noise on his COMM that sounded like Ethan had hit the steering wheel.

"There has to be another way to abort the warhead." He said and Benji nodded his head. "You may be able to do it from the launch device, but you'll need to find Hendricks to do that!" He responded.

"Then we're going to get that case!" Ethan said with renewed determination and Helene heard him pop the locks on his car just as they pulled up right behind them.

Ethan and Jane sprang from the vehicle just as a man Helene and Brandt quickly realized was Hendricks fled from the scene.

Ethan waved at Jane to go inside while he chased Hendricks down the street.

Benji parked the car and the three of them jumped out, guns drawn and ready to go. "Shouldn't one of us try to help Ethan?" Helene asked when both men went for the TV station, but no one heard her.

Sighing she followed Brandt and Benji until they reached the relay room where Brandt kicked the door open startling Jane who turned her gun on them instinctively.

She sighed and rolled her eyes when she realized it was her teammates.

"Wistrom destroyed the relay." She grunted, while standing shakily to her feet. "Ethan went after Hendricks and the case but-."

"It doesn't matter if he has the case. We can't transmit the abort codes." Benji cut her off.

Brandt shot him a look. "Well can you fix it?" He asked as Helene ran her fingers over the damaged wires.

Benji nodded his head. "Well yeah..." He started to say when the power went off. Helene whipped her head around.

"Well it's going to be pointless if we don't have any power." Benji grumbled.

"Wistrom!" Jane raised her gun and started to walk towards the electrical closet. Brandt and Helene raised their flashlights and started to follow her when Jane suddenly stumbled sideways into one of the monitors.

"Jane!" Helene cried out, but Jane shook her head.

"I'm okay." She muttered, but Helene didn't believe her.

"Oh my God, you are _not_ okay." Helene blanched when she moved Jane's hand and saw the bullet lodged into her side. "She's been hit." She told Brandt and Benji.

Brandt reached for his gun. "Then I'll go get the power back on." He said. "You stay here and patch her up and cover for Benji." He told Helene. Helene nodded her head.

"And you be careful." She retorted. Brandt turned to face Benji.

"You can get this thing rewired right?" He asked looking for a confirmation. Benji nodded his head. "Yeah, we just won't be able to do anything until the power comes back on." Brandt nodded his head at that.

"Right. We can do this." He turned to Helene for reassurance. She responded by nearly crushing him in her arms.

"You better come back out of there...no more than five minutes, you understand me?" She asked pulling away abruptly. Brandt nodded his head. "You bet." He murmured, not dropping his gaze as he reloaded a fresh bullet into his case.

Helene narrowed her eyes at his complacency while Benji ignored them and turned to get to work on rewiring the computer.

"I'm serious. If you die I will go straight to the afterlife and drag you back by the skin of your teeth." She threatened and glared seriously at Brandt.

Brandt responded to her by kissing her just as forcefully as she had hugged him. "I _will_ be back." He spoke through clenched teeth before turning to run for the power closet.

...


	12. Chapter 12

(So I hope you're not bored or disgusted yet. haha Here's chapter 12. I own nothing but Helene)

...

"Ow!" Benji flinched and dropped the wires again when one of the sockets fried his finger.

"Almost done." Helene grimaced then checked for Will again as she worked to stitch up Jane's wound using the makeshift equipment she found in the TV station's first aid kit.

Jane frowned as she kept an eye out for intruders. "He should be back by now." She glanced over in the general direction of the power closet making Helene frown at her.

"He'll be back, Jane." She said as much to reassure herself as she was her teammates.

"Still we need the power to be up for this to work." Benji muttered as he worked to connect another wire. "Either this is the most impossible fuse box ever or something's wrong." He muttered not quite low enough under his breath.

Helene scowled at that.

"Ah!" Jane gasped, instinctively reaching to cover her wound as Helene fastened the last stitch in place. "Sorry." Helene apologized and turned to grab a bandage out of the med kit she had found.

"Ow! That's it! He's been gone too long!" Benji hissed both in pain and frustration as the cables zapped him in the fingers again. "Here! When the power comes back, put these drives into this bay! All right?" Benji tried to hand off the computer jacks to Helene, but she shook her head.

"No. You do it! I'll go and find Will myself after I finish wrapping Jane up!" She quickly shook out the bandages and nudged Jane's hand aside.

"You can't do that! You'll be killed! You're not a combat specialist, Helene! You're a Medic!" Benji protested. Helene ignored him. "Lift up your shirt a bit." She instructed Jane.

Jane nodded and grimaced as Helene tied the gauze strip into place. "Helene!" Benji tried again to get the medic's attention.

"You can't do this! Wistrom will outgun you!"

Helene looked up to meet his gaze. "No, he won't." She tightened the bandage securely around Jane's waist making her gasp again.

"Yes he will!" Benji scoffed in disbelief. "He was trained in advanced martial art combat! You were only given basic training!" Helene rolled her eyes.

"So were you, remember?" She reminded him, standing to her feet. She quickly reached into the back of her belt grabbing her gun as Benji sputtered in an attempt to defend herself.

"You good?" Helene looked up at Jane.

Jane nodded her head. "I'll cover Benji! You tell Brandt we need his a** back here now!" She glared.

Helene smiled back at her. "Will do." She raised her gun and turned to run towards the power closet. Benji sighed and clasped his hands to the side of his head.

"We are so doomed!"

...

"Arghh!" Brandt groaned as the side of his face made contact with the rough ridges of the wall. He struggled to get back to his feet while keeping his gun away from Wistrom's reach, but the latter had his arms pinned down to his sides.

Finally Brandt threw his arm back into his opponent's face knocking Wistrom clean under the jaw with his right elbow, but he retaliated by slamming Brandt's arm back into the wall causing him to lose his grip on the gun due to the strong buzzing pain that raced up his wrist.

Seizing his chance, Wistrom tried go for the revolver, but Brandt twisted his body around, tripping his attacker and knocking him into the wall before kicking the gun off the catwalk.

Wistrom stomped on Brandt's foot and punched him in the face stunning him momentarily, but Brandt recovered quickly enough to throw another punch smashing Wistrom flat in the face.

"Ahhh!" Wistrom feinted at the blow and Brandt took his chance running for the fuse box. He barely got his fingers around the handle when something...or rather someone grabbed him by the waist and left arm dragging him back across the narrow corridor again.

Brandt scrambled to keep his opponent from throwing him off the stairs, but Wistrom kicked his legs out from under him throwing him off balance. Will barely reacted in time to keep himself from falling face first on the floor before Wistrom picked him up choking him in both arms before he could try to do anything else.

Brandt gasped for air and latched himself onto the other man's arms digging his fingernails into his flesh in a vain attempt to pry open an escape.

He finally kicked him the shin stunning him just as a shot rang out. Shocked, Brandt lost his balance just as Wistrom went limp as a boned fish sending the both of them crashing to the ground.

"Shoot!" A woman hissed before tossing aside her revolver. Brandt flinched as it clattered noisely to the ground and twisted in a vain attempt to get out from under Wistrom's corpse.

"Hold still!" Helene knelt and flicked Brandt harshly in the head causing him to wince slightly as she quickly shoved Wistrom off of his torso.

"Uh!...Thanks Baby!" Brandt groaned as the air forcefully re-entered his lungs. Helene shrugged. "Get the power back on! Benji's just about ready to send in the abort codes and we're running out of time!" She bent to retrieve her gun.

Brandt slowly got to his feet. "Helene..."

"Will, there's no time! The missile's going to land any second now!" Helene grabbed her gun and pocketed it before moving to open the hatch on the power box.

"Helene!" Brandt reached over and put his hand in the way of the power switch before she pulled it up after getting the door open. Helene scowled at him. "What?"

Brandt leaned over and pulled her into a hug. "Thanks." He kissed her on the cheek then grabbed the power switch with his left hand pulling it down with a satisfying clank.

...


	13. Chapter 13

(Final Chapter. I hope it wasn't too bad. As usual I own nothing but my OC Helene.)

...

"Well here we are! Home away from home." Benji grinned as he, Jane, Helene and Brandt got off the trolley bus at the harbor Ethan had instructed them to meet him at a week following the disarming of the Russian missile.

Jane rolled her eyes at him. "Real funny, Benji." She turned to look over her shoulder when Brandt and Helene started lagging behind.

"Hey! Come on you two! We haven't got all night!" Benji called to the couple who merely turned to smile at them in return.

"We'll catch up! You guys go ahead!" Brandt retorted, winking at the duo before turning his attention back to his wife.

Benji and Jane exchanged glances, shrugged then turned to continue on their way as if nothing had happened.

Helene chuckled. "Can you believe we're all about to go our separate ways now?" She took a brief minute to gaze around herself before looking back at Brandt.

"I know what you mean." Brandt nodded, his dark grey eyes glinting in the glow of the streetlights as people walked past them with not a care or worry in their minds.

"After everything we just went through together, it's going to be feel a little weird to be go back to our own devices isn't it?" Brandt smiled though it didn't reach his eyes as he turned to lean against the wall next to Helene.

Helene lowered her eyes. "Yeah...I never thought I'd say this after Croatia, but it was nice to be back in the field. At least for a little bit." She amended at the last second.

Brandt chuckled at that. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Even if the IMF was completely shutdown and we were running the risk of getting disavowed for almost everything we did." He folded his arms across his chest.

Helene nodded. "Yeah." She trailed off as a couple no older than their mid twenties walked by. The man had his arm wrapped around the woman and Helene saw that her belly was round poking out slightly from underneath the pink cardigan she was wearing.

"You thinking about him?" Brandt asked, noticing the couple as well. Helene sighed and looked down at her feet. "Everyday since we left to meet the Secretary." She swallowed and licked her lips. "What about you? Have you thought about him?"

Brandt barely nodded his head. "Every day and night." He straightened slightly and moved so he was standing directly in Helene's line of sight.

"Think your Mother will understand if we explain why we had to take an extended leave of absence?" He asked grinning slightly as a seagull scrawked overhead.

Helene rolled her eyes. "She wouldn't care about our reasons even if we _were_ allowed to explain." She looked up to meet his gaze again. Brandt snickered. "Yeah you're right." He closed the distance between them a little more.

"What do you say we head over then and not keep Ethan waiting on us?" He held out his hand. Helene hesitated. "You do know why he called us over here right?" She asked, scuffing the toe of her boot on the asphalt.

Brandt's smile faded slightly. "What do you mean?"

"He probably wants to recruit us. I overheard him on the phone the last day we met together. The IMF gave him another mission and they gave him the option of assembling his own back up team." She dug her fingernails into her sides.

"I know we always go to work together, but I don't know if I can force myself to be away from my baby anymore." She frowned and stared at the gravel beneath her feet.

"It was hard enough, knowing I couldn't go back to him the night the Secretary died and we were forced to go on the run with Ethan and his team."

Brandt sighed at that. "Yeah...I don't know if I could do it either." He slowly lowered his arm. "I mean we agreed when Seth was born that our focus would be on raising him."

Helene looked up at him at this.

"I wouldn't stop you though if you decided to stay. You're a really good helper, William." She teased him a bit at the end and Brandt caught her sarcasm.

"Very funny." He shifted his weight from one foot to the next.

"I'm serious." Helene stepped forward and took his right hand. "You should stay if he asks. You're a better field agent than I am and they need you more than I do." She stroked the top of his hand.

Brandt flipped his hand around and grabbed her hand in his own. "No they don't. You and Seth are my priority now, Helene and if Ethan offers me a position, I'm turning him down. No ifs, ands or butts about it." He brought her hand up to the level of his chest.

A smile worked its way up to the tips of Helene's lips at that. "I knew there was a reason why I love you." She murmured teasing him again.

Brandt smiled and pulled her into a loving embrace.

...

"So! I hear the insurance company is refusing to pay the claim on that car you totaled, Ethan." Benji said as Will and Helene joined the others at the table Ethan was sitting at.

"Yeah something about intentional 100 meter vertical drops not being covered." Jane added. Ethan shrugged his shoulders. "Go figure. How are you two doing?" He asked nodding at Brandt and Helene.

"Fine." Helene answered for the both of them. "How about you, Jane?" She turned to face her new friend.

"Healing." Jane smiled.

"How's the leg, Ethan?" Brandt piped in. "I heard you busted it pretty good while skyfalling in that car." He snickered. Ethan rolled his eyes. "Still working." He grinned. "For your information."

Brandt chuckled.

"Uh I'm fine by the way...if anyone cares." Benji raised his hand. "I mean I'm not exactly sleep per se. You know cold sweats in the middle of the night."

Helene gave him a sympathetic look. "I know what you mean. Even when we were getting off the bus this morning I couldn't shake the feeling that...it's wrong. I mean all these people are just walking around happy and completely oblivious to the fact that we just risked our necks to make sure they didn't get vaporized." She said reflectively.

Brandt nodded his head at her. "Well if it wasn't for dumb luck-."

"Was it?" Ethan cut him off. "I mean sure we were practically unpreprared and disavowed, but the only thing that functioned properly through all that was this team." He leaned forward and leaned his elbows on the table.

"I'm still not sure how we ended up together, but I'm glad we did for more reasons than one." He smiled. One by one the others returned his smile.

"I am too." Jane agreed and Helene turned to nudge Benji in the arm.

Ethan reached into his jacket. "Your new mission...should you choose to accept them." He set four cellphones on the table.

At first no one spoke and no one moved to take a cellphone. Helene chewed on her lip and turned to exchange glances with Brandt as Jane stared at the phone directly nearest to her.

"I'm staying." Benji spoke up after a minute. "I mean it's not like any mission's going to be worse than the one we were just on, is it?" He asked. He started to laugh at his own joke until he realized that no one was laughing with him.

"Wait is it?" He repeated. This time everyone joined in.

"Seriously Benji." Ethan pushed one of the phones closer to Benji after the laughter had died down a bit.

Benji reached over and snatched the phone. "Guess I'll be seeing you guys soon." He grinned and without another word, got up and left the table.

Jane was next to follow his lead. "Agent Hunt." She brushed against his arm with the tips of her fingers as she passed him on her way out of the harbor restaurant.

"Agent Carter." Ethan nodded back. He looked back at Brandt and Helene expecting them to grab the remaining two phones, but instead they stood, exchanged glances with each other and turned to leave hand in hand.

"Wait! Guys!" Ethan called after them as Brandt started to nod to him in a farewell manner. Immediately both agents stopped walking.

"We're not taking those phones, Ethan. It's not just because you wouldn't want us there, but there's something else that requires our immediate focus." Brandt avoided Ethan's gaze as he explained himself to the Senior Agent.

"I know about your son." Ethan spoke calmly as Helene started to shoot Brandt with a questioning look. "And I know about Croatia. I pulled both your files after I left to establish some connections back in Dubai." He leaned back in his chair.

Brandt and Helene exchanged another glance with each other."You did?" Brandt asked, a bit uneasily.

"Yeah and I understand where you're coming from. I'll understand if you need to get back home to your family. Just know the positions are open for you, should you two ever decide you want to come back." He smiled and nudged the cellphones across the table towards them.

Brandt shook his head. "You don't want me on your team, Ethan. Helene maybe, but not me." Helene frowned at the sudden no confidence she heard her husband's voice. "Will, what are you saying?" She asked.

"In Croatia...I was the one assigned to protect you and your wife. It was my fault, she was killed Ethan. Mine. That's why I couldn't stay with the agency anymore and partly why I switched to being an analyst." Brandt started to shake as the truth flew from his mouth and relieved him like a breath of fresh air.

"Will, you weren't the only one responsible that night. I was the one left in charge of protecting Cassie remember? That makes me just as responsible as you are." Helene disagreed.

"You're both wrong." Ethan cut in. "It wasn't either of your jobs to protect her at all. Sure it may have been your call and your assignment, but I was the one who swore to take care of her in sickness and in health. It was in the contract you know right after we exchanged vows." He smiled.

Brandt just gaped at him. "But the body..."

"I had to do what I had to do." Ethan explained. "If she was going to be safe that meant no one could know she was still alive." He lowered his voice though he made sure that both Brandt and Helene could hear him.

Helene's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "You mean..." She started and stopped herself. "She's..." Brandt trailed off. Ethan nodded his head.

"Feel better?" He asked with a coy grin plastered to his face. Brandt scoffed disbelievingly in response.

"I don't believe this." He muttered while rubbing his hand slowly through his hair. Helene shook her head. "Son of a gun."

Ethan chuckled. "Here." He held out the phones. "Take them. I'm not saying you have to come with us right away, but when you feel like duty calls we'll just be a button press away." He settled back in his seat and waited with an expectant smile on his face.

Brandt sighed. "Well when you put it like that." He reached over and grabbed a phone nudging Ethan in the shoulder with it before walking past him to the exit of the patio.

Ethan grinned and looked up to meet Helene's wide serene smile. "We'll be seeing you, Agent Hunt." She took the last phone tucking it into her pocket before turning to follow Brandt.

Ethan smiled back at her. "Mrs. Brandt." He waited until Brandt and Helene had left before getting up from the table himself.

"I can't believe you tried to take the blame for everthing that happened on the Croatia assignment." He heard Helene's voice float across the patio.

"Well, it's my job to protect you, isn't it?" Brandt responded and Ethan smiled to himself as he saw a woman crossing the bridge to enter a late night coffee shop with a man Ethan recognized as a head authority from the IMF.

She caught his eye and recognition barely flitted across her expression before the man ushered her inside. Ethan's grin widened.

"You really think it's true? What Ethan said about Cassie?...You think she's really alive?" Helene asked as she and Brandt walked back to the bus stop together.

Brandt shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't sound like he was just making it up though. Did you see the way he smiled when he told us?" He turned to meet Helene's gaze.

Helene nodded. "Yeah..." She smiled and squeezed Brandt's hand gently in her own. Will reached to brush a strand of stray hair from her face. "Are you ready to go home, Mrs. Brandt?" He asked imitating the way Ethan had addressed her a few minutes earlier, but with an affectionate tone to his voice.

Helene smirked at him. "Your mission. Should you choose to accept it." She reached into his back pocket and pulled their temporary bus passes from his back pocket.

Brandt smiled and took the cards. "I accept."

...


End file.
